UPDATE from Roanoke County Fire & EMS: Jacob Daniel Seymour was taken into custody this morning and charged with “burning or destroying any building or structure.” Seymour is 28 years of age and his address was listed as transient.
PREVIOUS: (Roanoke County, VA—June 7, 2018) Roanoke County Fire and Rescue responded at about 7:20 p.m., on Thursday, June 7, 2018, to the 6700 block of Split Oak Road in the Back Creek area of Roanoke County for the report of a structure fire. Initial calls were for a large plume of black smoke in the area. First arriving crews did find a structure that was fully involved in fire. This was a vacant house that had not been lived in for over 15 years. The house sits at the end of a long, gravel road at the top of a hill in a rural area of Roanoke County where there are no fire hydrants. This presented crews some challenges with access and water supply. The house is a total loss. There were no injuries. Crews from Back Creek, Cave Spring, Bent Mountain, and Mount Pleasant responded to the fire. The fire marshal’s office is on scene to investigate a cause.