winter or no, crozet, virginia, was unused to this. then, through the white deadening blanket that buried the town, a piercing sound -- fire alarm. and now, the snowstorm was the last thing on fire chief preston gentry's mind. >> the tone went off for a house fire with occupants possibly trapped inside. that ramps everything up to full force. >> reporter: the alarm was on a quiet street lined with starter homes, cling lane. >> there were a lot of kids in that neighborhood. and so, you know, you're running a lot o' things through your mind when you're goin' there, who are the occupants that you're gonna have to -- to rescue so. >> reporter: the fire trucks raced to the home of a recently separated woman named ann charles and her three children. thick black smoke poured from the 2nd story eves; part of the roof had already burned away. >> we were concentrating on getting up the steps and getting into those rooms that we were pretty sure we had victims. >> reporter: neighbors crowded in behind police barricades, one of them was an 18 year