RAND, W.Va. — Investigators with the state Fire Marshal’s Office were still working Sunday to determine the cause of a deadly house fire that happened early Saturday morning in Kanawha County.
Firefighters said the amount of stuff being hoarded in the Rand home fueled the blaze and blocked efforts to reach the elderly woman who died in it. The victim was not being identified as of Sunday morning.
The fire was reported before 2 a.m. Saturday on Rand’s Davidson Avenue. Early indications were the blaze started in the basement.
Volunteer firefighters from Rand, Belle and Malden worked for hours to put out the flames and recover the victim’s body.
At times, the flames from the large blaze threatened Rand’s First Church of the Nazarene and another house next door.