Botetourt County Fire & EMS Department officials are still investigating a fire that claimed the lives of three family members and injured three others in the early morning hours Saturday in Lithia.

According to information provided by Battalion Chief Jason Ferguson, at approximately 2:45 a.m. the Botetourt Emergency Communications Center received reports of a home on fire with residents still inside in the Lithia area south of Buchanan.

Crews from multiple fire and EMS stations throughout Botetourt County were dispatched to the home. Upon arrival of initial units, the two-story frame home on Delong Lane just off Lithia Road was reported to be heavily involved in fire.

Three occupants of the home were found outside the residence, suffering from varying degrees of burns and were immediately transported to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, according to the report from the county.

The occupants reported three others were not accounted for.

Fire crews spent several hours putting out the flames and bringing the fire under control. Fire investigators were on the scene throughout the day Saturday attempting to determine a cause of the fire.

The three occupants that were initially unaccounted were found deceased. The bodies of the victims were transported to the medical examiner’s office in Roanoke.

County officials were still not prepared to release the victims’ identities Tuesday morning; however, neighbor and Lithia United Methodist Church member Michelle Crook identified the three family members who died as Sandy Secrist and her two great-grandsons, Milo and Jasper.

Sandy Secrist’s husband, Richard and the children’s parents, Rachel and Nick, received burns in the fire. Richard Secrist was released from the hospital and the boys’ parents are both still at Wake Forest University Hospital burn unit, Crook said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Ferguson said Tuesday morning.

Lithia United Methodist Church stands in front of the Secrist home and the church congregation has established an account at Bank of Botetourt for the public to make donations to the Secrist family. Donations can be made at any Bank of Botetourt branch. Crook said.

According to Ferguson, departments operating on scene at the fire were Buchanan, Troutville, Fincastle, Blue Ridge and Read Mountain Volunteer Fire Departments, Botetourt Fire & EMS, Botetourt County Sheriff’s Office and Roanoke Fire-EMS (Fire Investigations).

Eagle Rock Volunteer Fire and Rescue, along with Blue Ridge Rescue, provided station standby coverage as well.

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