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Mother, daughter ID’d as remaining victims of July fatal fire in Chesapeake

Posted at 9:34 AM, Sep 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-18 09:34:32-04

CHESAPEAKE, Va. – The Chesapeake Fire Department has identified the remaining two victims who died in a four-alarm fire in July at a Chesapeake senior living complex.

The fire occurred in the early morning hours of July 15 at the Chesapeake Crossing Senior Community Apartments on Robert Hall Boulevard. Three people were killed and six others were injured while 150 residents were displaced.

Just after the fire, officials identified 61-year-old Cynthia Martenis as one of the victims. They now say the other two victims were a mother and daughter — 64-year-old Saundra Somerville and 30-year-old Lydia Somerville.

The cause of the fire was determined to be a lightning strike. According to Fire Capt. Scott Saunders, the building didn’t have a fire alarm that notified dispatchers because at the time the building was built, the code didn’t require it to have an alarm.

Stay with News 3 for more updates on this story.

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