GALAX, Va. (WFXR) – The Galax Police Department says a man has died during an apartment fire that occurred in Galax early on November 19.
Galax PD said Twin County 911 received a report of a fire at Harmony Village Apartments on Glendale Road around 2:56 a.m. with a person possibly trapped inside. Emergency responders with the Galax Police, Galax Fire-Rescue, and Galax-Grayson EMS were dispatched in response.
Police arrived around 2:59 a.m. and saw heavy smoke coming from the upstairs apartment and attempted to make entry; however, the smoke and heat were too heavy.
After Galax Fire arrived, they made entry into the apartment and found 55-year-old Kenneth David Parnell dead on the scene.
The fire was extinguished and contained to the single apartment.
Galax Police is currently investigating the cause of the fire, however, based on the preliminary investigation, the fire was deemed accidental and connected to the use of an oxygen device.
Parnell’s body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Roanoke for an autopsy.
No residents were displaced from the building and there are no reports of other injuries.