🌱 Christmas Day House Fire in Bonsack + '30 Days Of Hope' Numbers

Good morning, everybody! It's Tuesday and this week that likely means it's time to get back into the swing of things. Here's a fresh edition of the Roanoke Daily with what's happening locally while you brew that first cuppa. Today we'll cover...

• Gas prices continue to fall
• Power steadily being restored
• Bedford man killed in Blue Ridge crash

Let's motor!

But first, today's weather:

Sunshine and a few clouds.

High: 46 Low: 25.

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Here are the top stories in Roanoke today:

1. One person was hospitalized and is reported to be in stable condition after a home in the 4700 block of Phyllis Road area of Roanoke County caught fire Christmas Day. Three area Fire EMS departments responded to the scene in the Bonsack area — Roanoke County, Botetourt County, and Roanoke City — shortly after noon to find a residence in flames and heavy smoke rising. Firefighters quickly got the blaze under control and a preliminary investigation by the Fire Marshal indicates the fire was accidental and started in the home's fireplace. Damages to the structure are estimated at $250,000. (WDBJ)
2. During the month of November WSLS News Channel 10 featured a child in the Virginia foster care system who was ready to be adopted every hour from 6 a.m. — 5 p.m. The program was called '30 Days of Hope' and the number of inquiries made by Roanoke area families soared as a result of the exposure. "The notoriety that 30 Days of Hope gives for the children, the viewing area that it reaches, the numbers, I was astonished at how quickly the inquiries started coming in and how major the change was," said Vernee Mason, the Virginia Department of Social Services Adoption program supervisor. More than 600 people have turned in inquiries and gotten touch asking how they can help. More than 700 children are currently in the Virginia foster program and ready to be adopted by loving families. (WSLS)
3. GasBuddy has surveyed the 155 stations in their system in the Roanoke area again recently and found that prices are trending down with an average price drop of 9.8 cents per gallon in the last week alone. Roanoke prices are 40.3 cents per gallon lower than they were last month and 15 cents per gallon lower than they were year ago, but GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis, Patrick De Haan, said it's too early to get excited. "While the national average declined for the seventh straight week, with oil prices rallying, it remains to be seen if we will manage another week of gasoline price declines. We’re still waiting for the national average to fall below $3 per gallon, something that is suddenly a bit less likely given the extreme cold weather." (WDBJ)
4. According to Appalachian Power the number of outages from high winds are down to just over 6,000 with the highest numbers still in Roanoke County, Franklin County, and parts of Lynchburg. The height of the storm saw nearly 144,000 outages in the Southwest Virginia region and crews have been working steadily through the holiday to get service restored. The utility said it would likely take until tonight for all services to be restored, but has a tendency to beat their own estimates in this writer's personal experience. A detailed and interactive map of Appalachian Power's territory and outages can be found here. (Cardinal News)
5. Virginia State Police report that a Dodge Dakota pickup traveling east on Route 460 near Healing Springs Road in Blue Ridge ran off the right side of the road about 1:30 a.m. on Sunday night. The driver then overcorrected and crossed a median before overturning in the westbound lanes. The driver, Paul Daniel Morgan, 28, of Bedford, was the only occupant and died at the scene. Investigators say he was not wearing a seatbelt . (WDBJ, WFIR)

From our sponsor:

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Today in Roanoke:

• T-Mobile Tuesdays: Get Free Stuff And Great Perks Every Week (8:30 a.m.)
• Ice Bumper Cars at the Berglund Center Coliseum (1 p.m.)
• Fleet Feet Pub Run & Walk at Big Lick Brewing Co. (6 p.m.)
• Twisted Trivia at Twisted Track Brewpub (6:30 p.m.)
• Music Bingo at Big Lick Brewing Co. (6:30 p.m.)
• GOTE at Martin’s Downtown Bar and Grill (9:30 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• Roanoke Pinball Museum: "Santa left us a brand new Weird Al’s Museum of Natural Hilarity machine! It will be waiting for you during your next visit. 🙂" (Roanoke Pinball Museum via Facebook)
• The Grandin Theatre: "Celebrate the season with Grandin Theatre! Find showings and tickets at www.GrandinTheatre.com and join us!" (The Grandin Theatre via Facebook)
• Roanoke Regional Small Business Development Center: "Thank you Botetourt County Economic Development for your support. Our partnership is a chef’s kiss for the businesses of Botetourt 💙" (Roanoke Regional Small Business Development Center via Facebook)
• Straight Street Roanoke Valley: "Thank you Magnets USA for the new Straight Street mugs. We appreciate your support and encouragement." (Straight Street Roanoke Valley via Facebook)

There we go ... you're back in the loop and ready to head out the door this fine Tuesday! I'll see you right back here — same bat time and bat channel — tomorrow morning.

— Ian

About me: Ian Graham is a novelist, screenwriter, and freelance contributing writer. He is a firm believer in being yourself… unless you can be Batman. Always be Batman. To connect with Ian you can visit him on Facebook and Instagram. He doesn't bite. Except on full moons.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Roanoke Daily? Contact me at roanoke@patch.com