Chapman and her boyfriend Ismael Barrios have been at work when the defective wire beneath the kitchen ground erupted, filling the house with smoke that killed her three cats, a canine, a gecko, and a snake who have been unable to outlive the harmful fumes.
The fireplace erupted at 5:39 PM on April 25 contained in the couple’s three-story dwelling in Fishersville about 100 miles west of Richmond, and firefighters from the Augusta County Fireplace-Rescue arrived on the scene 5 minutes after receiving the alarm, in response to the division’s fireplace report.
“The fireplace assault crews positioned fireplace within the crawl house … within the first-floor space of the kitchen,” the report states. “Crews have been in a position to extinguish the hearth rapidly and examine for extension. Search crews have been capable of finding three cats and one canine, all of the animals have been deceased and brought to the entrance yard.”