RANSON, W.VA. - A man and his wife were staying with friends Sunday after fire spread through their house at 211 E. 11th Ave. earlier in the day, a fire official said.
It is believed the fire started about noon as a result of a crack in a chimney, Lt. Tyree Kable of the Independent Fire Co. said.
A wood stove was connected to the chimney, and it is believed that fire in the chimney escaped through the crack and into a floor joist, Kable said.
Fire spread through the floor between the first and second stories of the house, Kable said.
Before firefighters arrived, the owner of the house used a garden hose in an attempt to extinguish part of the fire in an exterior wall, Kable said.
That effort helped slow the blaze, Kable said.
Firefighters had to cut into the roof of the house as part of their effort to douse the fire, Kable said.
The owner of the house is Bradley Baer, Kable said.
Although Baer and his wife were staying with friends Sunday night, they should be able to return to the house after repairs, Kable said.
It was the second house fire in Ranson over the weekend.
On Friday at about 10:20 p.m., fire gutted the inside of a house in the 300 block of 10th Avenue, a fire official said.
The homeowner suffered a superficial burn to her hand and was forced to relocate, fire officals said.
