By Patrick Wilson
The Virginian-Pilot
PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Firefighters got so close to Edward Earl Pace Jr. in his burning, smoke-filled home that they could touch him as he lay unresponsive on his bathroom floor.
Then, what firefighters call a “flashover” sent fire coursing throughout the house, and those struggling to save him were forced to retreat through a window.
Pace, who was in his late 50s, died in the fire that started about 11:30 p.m. Thursday at 90 Nicholson St. in Cradock. His wife and son escaped and were outside when a police officer and the first firefighters arrived about four minutes after the fire was reported.
Firefighters first entered through the front door, but the fire was so intense they couldn’t make it far, so they got inside through the front bedroom windows, Capt. Paul Hoyle said.
A “flashover” happens when everything in a room reaches ignition temperature at once.
“It’s nonsurvivable,” Hoyle said. “Even in our gear, you’ve got about four to six seconds.”
After escaping, firefighters tried to enter the back of the house, but it was impossible, Hoyle said.
Most of the fire was under control in about 30 to 35 minutes.
The house was destroyed. Investigators determined that the cause was accidental, but they weren’t able to pinpoint why it started.
Pace’s wife and son were taken to Maryview Medical Center, and his wife was later transferred to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital to be treated for second- degree burns and smoke inhalation. The son had burns on his feet.
The names of the wife and son and the son’s age were not released. A family member said the family did not want to be interviewed.
A neighbor, Darrell Strickland, said Pace, who used a cane to walk, was a great neighbor whom he had known for many years.
Strickland was about to go to sleep late Thursday when he heard sirens.
“The flames were shooting out of the back porch,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Pace often went by “Junior” and “was a happy-go-lucky guy” who liked hot rods, Strickland said.
Fire officials are ruling it the first fatal fire in Portsmouth this year, although a 43-year-old man died on Nov. 1 after suffering burns in a group home in Cavalier Manor. That death remains under investigation.
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