1 Dead from fire at Scout Camp

A man died in a building fire that broke out early yesterday at a Boy Scout camp in Augusta County, where 107 Scouts and 78 adult leaders were camped at the time, Virginia State Police said.

The victim, who wasn't immediately identified, apparently was living in a section of the building that caught fire, which contained Camp Shenandoah's trading post, an office and an apartment where the victim was staying, said Augusta Fire Chief Carson Holloway. No one else was injured.

"We're not sure what sparked the fire," Holloway said. "It's still under investigation."

Augusta authorities received a 911 call about 4:10 a.m. about a blaze in a single-story, wood-frame building with a person trapped inside, Holloway said.

Several regional fire and rescue departments responded to the camp near Swoope, about 12 miles west of Staunton. The first units to arrive encountered heavy fire conditions that prevented firefighters from immediately entering the building, Holloway said.

Fire crews entered after reducing the volume of fire, and the victim was found in a small apartment with a separate entrance to the 30-foot-by-50-foot building, Holloway said.

"It was one building, but it was separated by a wall with a store on one side and a sleeping quarters in the adjacent part," the chief said. "The building was basically destroyed."

The trading post is near several of the camp's main buildings, including the dining lodge, near the entrance to the camp.

The 107 fourthand fifth-grade boys were attending a three-day Cub Scout Webelos resident camp session that was to end today. The final Boy Scout camping session for the summer -- for boys 11 to 18 -- had ended Aug. 1, according to the council's Web site.

The camp was closed by midday after parents picked up their children, said Don Ellis, chief Scout executive of the Stonewall Jackson Area Council, which owns and operates the 454-acre camp.

"This Boy Scout council is totally focused on the well-being of all campers," Ellis said, "and [we] give our total condolences to the family. My concern is with them."

State police were alerted about an hour after the initial fire call and were asked to handle the investigation, said state police Sgt. Les Tyler.

The victim's body was taken to the state medical examiner's office to confirm his identity and determine the cause of death, Tyler said.

The death was the first at a Boy Scout facility in Virginia since four adult leaders were electrocuted at the 2005 National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill in Caroline County. The men were killed when the center pole of a large canopy they were helping a contractor erect touched overhead power lines.

In November 2006, three Boy Scouts and a Scout leader from Franklin were killed when their sport utility vehicle ran off a Southampton County road, hit a tree and burst into flames. The Scouts were among a group of 10 returning in two vehicles from a weekend campout in Blackstone.