Vacant home destroyed

The cause of a fire that consumed an older wood frame home on Murphy Bend Road early last Thursday morning is being investigated by the Alleghany County Sheriff's Department.

Firemen from Glade Creek and Cherry Lane volunteer fire departments were called to the scene around 12:15 a.m. last Thursday and remained on the scene for about four hours, Glade Creek Chief David Higgins said in an interview Tuesday. The fire apparently started prior to midnight last Wednesday, but the exact time of the blaze's origin is not known at this time.

"When the neighbors called it in, they said it was already fully engulfed," Higgins said. "It had been burning for awhile" when firemen arrived on the scene.

At left, a Glade Creek firemen directs his hose into the flames at the front of the house as smoke billows out in a dense cloud.