Fires cause damage in West Virginia

February 20, 2001

Fires cause damage in West Virginia

By DAVE McMILLION / Staff Writer, Charles Town

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - Fire destroyed a house and badly damaged another in the Eastern Panhandle Monday.

In a third fire, two children playing with a lighter caused two outbuildings to catch fire in the Fox Glen subdivision in Jefferson County, according to firefighters.

About 2 p.m., a fire started in the laundry room of a house in Harpers Ferry Campsites near Harpers Ferry.

When fire crews arrived, the house was engulfed in flames, said Scott Knill, chief of the Blue Ridge Mountain Fire Co.

The fire spread to woods behind the house, scorching about one-quarter acre, Knill said.

The owner of the house was not immediately determined.

About an hour later, the two storage buildings in Fox Glen caught fire. The children were playing with a lighter between the two buildings, said Ed Smith, chief of the Independent Fire Co.

One of the buildings was only a few feet from a house, and siding on the house was smoking when fire crews arrived, Smith said.

West Virginia State Police were at the scene talking with the children and their parents, Smith said.

Earlier Monday, a fire started in a garage attic of a house at 315 Legion St. in Martinsburg, said Capt. Eddie Gochenour of the Martinsburg Fire Department.

The 8:38 a.m. fire spread up the side of the house and into the attic, Gochenour said. Firefighters spent about 3 hours "digging" the fire out of the walls of the house, Gochenour said.

The house, off Western Avenue in the northeast end of town, is occupied by Carol and Greg Dove.

Firefighters also responded to a brush fire that burned about an acre on South Childs Road in Jefferson County Monday afternoon. Neighbors working with rakes and shovels were able to keep the fire contained, Smith said.

|

|

|