A Friday morning fire gutted a house on U. S. 460 a few miles west of Bedford.
Russell Stevens, Bedford's fire chief, said the call came in around 7 a.m. Flames were shooting out of the front of the house when firefighters got there.
Stevens, who was the on-scene commander for the firefighters involved, said that it took between 35 and 40 minutes to extinguish the blaze. However, smoldering pockets inside walls and in the attic kept them on the scene until nearly noon.
The house was heavily damaged.