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Two people, pet killed in mobile home fire in Virginia Beach

Posted at 6:52 AM, Oct 24, 2014
and last updated 2014-10-24 17:23:37-04

Virginia Beach, Va. - Two people and a pet were killed in an early morning mobile home fire in Virginia Beach.

The initial call for the fire at the County View Trailer Park came in at 6:08 a.m. Neighbors called 911 when they saw the flames, and told police dispatch that a man in a wheelchair living there could be inside.

Fire crews arrived and found the mobile home fully engulfed in flames. Crews knocked down the flames, and made their way inside within 15 minutes. The home was declared a total loss.

"I came out here at 6:30 and that thing was already burnt down to the ground," said neighbor Donna Beeler.

Neighbors tell NewsChannel 3 that two men lived in the mobile home, one of them wheelchair-bound.

"He was all over the park. He used to roam around everywhere. He would stop and talk to us and say hi to the kids and everything," Beeler says.

Firefighters discovered two victims' bodies. The bodies were found where the mobile home suffered the most damage, and most likely where the fire began, officials say.

Neighbors say they saw the flames, and Yvette Price, who saw the story on TV, says she drove from Newport News because she knew the victims very well, and used to work for the man who was wheelchair-bound.

"I immediately knew. There was no doubt in my mind who lived here. He was a very nice guy, very sweet, funny, he was real funny. I laughed with him every day I was here," she said. "It's just hard to believe he's gone."

Fire officials haven't officially released the identity of the victims. The Medical Examiner has removed the bodies from the home and crews are now in the process of identifying the bodies.

Firefighters say both victims were "burned beyond recognition" and dental records will most likely be used to identify them.

An investigation is underway into whether or not there were working smoke detectors.