Furnace causes smoke in apartment
Firefighters and rescuers responded Saturday afternoon to an apartment building in the 16900 block of Virginia Avenue for reports of smoke coming from the building.
When emergency personnel arrived at 16923 Virginia Ave. at 1:33 p.m., they quickly found the source of the smoke was a furnace malfunction, said Jeff Ringer, chief of the Volunteer Fire Co. of Halfway.
Initial reports were that a resident of one of the occupied apartments inhaled some smoke, but Ringer said that turned out to be unfounded.
The woman was removed from her apartment by a family member, but suffered no ill effects, Ringer said.
The occupants of the three apartments in the four-unit building were allowed to return to their homes after firefighters used fans to clear the smoke, Ringer said.
Paving machine runs into West End home
A paving machine believed to be part of the Gateway Crossing construction project in Hagerstown's West End plowed into the porch of a home at 1073 Ross St. on Saturday about 8:15 p.m.
Capt. Justin Mayhue of the Hagerstown Fire Department said no one was at the controls of the machine when firefighters first arrived after the piece of construction equipment struck the home.
The extent of damages to the home wasn't known, but Mayhue said it appeared to be more cosmetic than structural.
The machine was running at the time of the incident, Mayhue said. It was turned off after it struck the building.
"There was evidence some other equipment may have been moved also," Mayhue said. "I can't believe the contractors would have left them parked that way."
The Hagerstown Police Department responded to the scene along with the firefighters and rescuers.
No further information on the incident was available Saturday night.
