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A structure fire claimed the life of one individual on Milnwood Road Friday in Farmville. 

According to the Farmville Fire Department, they responded to a call around 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 22, about a structure fire in the 700 block of Milnwood Road. While working the scene, the department received assistance from the Hampden Sydney Volunteer Fire Department, the Rice Volunteer Fire Department, the Prince Edward Volunteer Rescue Squad and the Farmville Police Department.

According to Farmville Fire Chief Daniel Clark, firefighters arrived on the scene shortly after the call came into the station. When they arrived, they found heavy smoke coming from a residential home.  

“The house had excessive storage inside, which made things more complicated,” said Clark. 

When inside, firefighters found one individual unresponsive and carried them out to receive medical assistance. Emergency Medical Services checked out the individual and determined they had already passed due to the fire. The name of the individual has not been released at this time. 

“We’ve turned it over to the Virginia State Police, who are investigating the death,” said Clark. 

While responding to this fire, the Farmville-Prince Edward Alerting System announced that both directions of Milnwood Road were closed off to traffic, as there was also a hose across the road at Milnwood Road and Prince Drive. According to Clark, the departments were at the scene around five and a half hours to put out the fire and make sure the scene was under control. 

At this time the cause of the house fire is still unknown. In addition to investigating what caused the person’s death, the Virginia State Police will also be handling an investigation into what caused the fire itself.