King William County rallies to aid fire victims

By Reed Williams

Published: January 5, 2009

A fire that gutted a family's home and killed their dog in King William County has prompted an outpouring of community support, providing some relief to a family that lost almost everything they owned.

Bruce and Crystal Manies and their two daughters received so many donations of clothes and toys that they were trying yesterday to figure out how to give some of the items to someone else who might need them.

But the family is still in a bind after the blaze on New Year's Eve at the house they rented on Calno Road in the Mangohick area. Bruce and Crystal Manies are unemployed and didn't have much money even before the fire, they said.

They didn't have renter's insurance.

"I really don't even know what to think," Crystal Manies said. "I think we'll be OK."

Officials believe a wood stove might have started the fire about 6:45 p.m. while Bruce and Crystal Manies were driving to a family friend's house to celebrate the new year.

After they got a call from a relative, Crystal Manies said she turned their pickup truck around and started speeding toward home, unable to stop worrying about Rex, the family dog.

She stopped the truck on the road beside a long driveway that leads to the house. Over the trees she could see a massive orange glow. Flames were coming out of every side of the house and had set the surrounding woods on fire.

Crystal Manies got out of the truck and sank to her knees in the road. Then she ran toward some firefighters, begging them to save the family's dog.

"I was in tears, and I was shaking," she said yesterday. "I was scared. I paced the road and just kept looking."

Firefighters arrived about seven minutes after getting the call, and had the blaze under control within 15 minutes to a half-hour, fire officials said.

Bruce Manies later buried Rex, a black Labrador retriever, in the front yard of the house, erecting a wooden cross to mark the grave.

The couple and their two daughters, Briley, 3, and Cecilia, 5, are staying with Bruce's cousin, Wayne Walden, his fiancée, Victoria Dean, and their four children.

The Mangohick Volunteer Fire Department gave the Manies family a turkey, a pork shoulder, several rolls of sausage and some canned food, said Fire Chief Bill Moore. The chief and his wife also bought clothes for the family and some toys for Briley and Cecilia. Many other people also provided donations.

"I'm glad we got it all," Bruce Manies said, standing in Walden's home, which was cluttered with piles of donated clothes and toys. "Whatever we don't keep, we'll give to other relatives of ours or anyone else who needs it."

Crystal Manies said she left her job as a waitress a few weeks ago after a disagreement with her employer, and her husband's job on a Christmas-tree farm ended shortly after that. He is looking for another job now and says the exhaust pipe on the family's truck, their only vehicle, broke Saturday night while he was moving some of donated items.

A fund has been set up to help the family. Monetary donations may be sent to the Bank of Essex, Manies Family Fund, P.O. Box 1689, Glen Allen, VA 23060.
Contact Reed Williams at (804) 649-6332 or .