Portsmouth, Va. - Two Portsmouth families are off to a rough start for the new year after a fire Tuesday evening ruined part of their home.
Crews responded to a house fire in the 3500 block of Kingman Avenue just before 7:00 p.m., officials tell NewsChannel 3.
Resident Bambi Combs says she smelled something burning and went downstairs to find a chimney fire had started in their wood-burning stove.
"We could have been woken up to a worse fire, which is why I'm glad it happened when it did. We were all awake," she said.
Combs took action and got everyone out of the home, including her roommate and her roommate's infant child.
"I feel lucky. We all feel lucky, because like I said, you can replace stuff like that. You can't replace a human being," she says.
The fire department was forced to cut power to the home for safety reasons, leaving five people (four adults and one child) without a home. The Red Cross will be assisting the families, putting them up in a hotel.
Firefighters told Combs the flue to their fireplace had become clogged with soot, which caused the fire.
But Combs says they make sure to clean the flue every year.
