W.Va. firefighter still in critical condition

April 09, 2009|By MATTHEW UMSTEAD

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A Baker Heights Volunteer Fire Department firefighter who was injured while battling a large barn fire off Williamsport Pike this week remains in critical condition at Washington (D.C.) Hospital Center, a hospital spokeswoman said Thursday afternoon.

Kenneth Ayers, 45, was being treated for head and facial trauma in the hospital's critical care unit and the spokeswoman said staff did not expect his condition to change in the next 24 hours.

Ayers and another firefighter from Bedington Volunteer Fire Department were injured Tuesday evening when a gust of wind got beneath tin on the barn roof and pushed a timber in one of the side walls out and down on them as they were battling the blaze, fire officials have said.

Since being hospitalized, Ayers has opened his eyes and was able to flex his hand, Sheriff Kenneth M. Lemaster Jr. told Berkeley County commissioners on Thursday.

Ayers received the brunt of a falling piece of wood, and almost all of the bones in his face were fractured, fire officials have said.

Given positives signs that Ayers was recovering, officials were contemplating the possibility that Ayers could be transferred to Washington County Hospital in Hagerstown for long-term treatment, Lemaster said.

Ayers was taken from Martinsburg to Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., and then to Washington Hospital Center. The other injured firefighter was released from City Hospital Tuesday after being treated for a severely sprained ankle.

The cause of the fire near Energy Drive was being investigated by a contingent of assistant state fire marshals who were at the fire scene Thursday afternoon, Lemaster said.

Firefighters from Bedington, Baker Heights and Hedgesville and county personnel responded to the fire after 911 received the report at 6:22 p.m. Firefighters did not clear the scene of the blaze until about 1:30 a.m., on Wednesday after dousing remaining hot spots. It was the third fire since Saturday that has been considered suspicious.

Arrests also have yet to be made in five suspicious fires that were reported in one weekend about a month ago.

Lemaster said he was showing a supervising assistant state fire marshal the locations of those fires Thursday afternoon.

Residents who might have seen anything suspicious about the barn fire or other recent fires may contact Berkeley County Crime Solvers at 304-267-4999 or Lt. Gary Harmison at the sheriff's department at 304-267-7000.

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