On March 7, twin babies and a 3-year-old boy died after a fire erupted in their home in Truxtun.
The community, near the intersection of Portsmouth Boulevard and Deep Creek Boulevard, does not have a fire station.
Without a station in Truxtun, according to a recent report from fire officials to City Manager Lydia Pettis Patton, the department cannot meet "minimum response times for fire and emergency medical calls" there. The Virginian-Pilot obtained the report through a Freedom of Information Act request. It did not cite the March fire but said that recent fires were evidence of a need for a station in Truxtun.
Last month, the City Council instructed Pettis Patton to strip $4.5 million from Portsmouth's capital budget to build a station in Truxtun.
According to a story in The Pilot, the twins' parents woke up that day to a house full of thick black smoke after falling asleep on the couch.
When firefighters arrived in the early morning of March 7, the flames had engulfed about half of the house. It was too late for 9-month-old twins Rachel and Rahliel Douglas, but firefighters thought their cousin Marcell Speller might survive, according to the Pilot story. Speller was taken to Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center.