Crews

Fire crews were called to the Waynesboro News Agency at 91 W. Main St. in Waynesboro Thursday night for an investigation of an odor, according to Steve Biesecker, a spokesman for the Waynesboro Fire Department. The source of the odor was found, but Biesecker said he could not comment on what it was. The Waynesboro Police Department is investigating the incident, Biesecker said. West Main Street was closed from the square to South Potomac Street while fire crews determined the source of the odor, Biesecker said.

Staring Monday, PennDOT will close the Pa. 16 bridge over the west branch of Conococheague Creek between Mercersburg Borough and the Village of Welsh Run in Montgomery Township for repairs. The 1941 bridge is scheduled to be closed for seven months as construction crews replace the bridge superstructure, according to a PennDOT news release. A $865,451 contract was awarded to George S. Hann & Son Inc. of Fort Littleton, Pa., to demolish the bridge; replace the steel I-beams, bridge deck and parapets; construct the roadway approach; and install new guiderail, signs and new traffic lines, the release said.

Paving on Pa. 16 in the Waynesboro area is wrapping up, borough officials said. Borough Engineer Kevin Grubbs said Highway Materials was doing patching this week for five spots in the borough that didn't pass Pennsylvania Department of Transportation inspections. The road was repaved in 2010. Paving crews started their patch work at the intersection with Tritle Avenue early in the week, Grubbs said. Their last effort in the borough was to grind a seam near Virginia Avenue, he said.

A Maryland State Highway Administration crew was called out Sunday morning to repair a growing pothole and a crack in the slow lane of westbound Interstate 70, east of the bridge over Black Rock Road, according to Maryland State Police and Washington County Emergency Services. The pothole east of Hagerstown had not become a sinkhole yet, state police said around 11:20 a.m. Sunday. The hole was about 18 inches in diameter and 10 inches deep, according to a 911 supervisor.

One man was treated at and released from Chambersburg (Pa.) Hospital for smoke inhalation after a fire Tuesday at his home at 247 Colorado St. in Marion. Cassie Hershey of Marion Fire Co. said when firefighters arrived at the multifamily brick home around 1 p.m. Tuesday, smoke was showing from the first floor and fire was coming out a first-floor window. "The homeowner said he had an electric heater and tried to use it last night (Monday), and it wouldn't work," Hershey said.

Leitersburg Pike (Md. 60) near Bluegrass Drive has been closed to traffic while emergency crews remove electrical wires that fell on the roadway at about 1 p.m. today, a Washington County Emergency Services dispatcher said. Further details were not immediately available.

With some residential streets still snow-covered and a likely ice storm on the way, Washington County officials urged caution and patience as county road crews attempt to stretch a dwindling salt supply. As the storm approached Monday evening, Washington County Director of Public Works Joseph Kroboth III said the county had enough salt to treat roads for 12 to 18 hours once icy conditions begin, but crews would not be pretreating roads. Because they were conserving salt for the approaching storm, county crews also have not had enough salt to melt the hard-packed snow and ice that still covers some residential streets from last week’s snow, Kroboth said.

Morning snow created more slick driving conditions across Washington County Friday, just days after snow piled up as much as 10 inches in some parts of the county. A little more than 1 inch of new snow fell Friday, according to Hagerstown Weather Watcher Greg Keefer's web site, i4weather.net. The National Weather Service accumulation map had the county in the 1-inch-or-less range, weather service spokeswoman Heather Sheffield said. Edwin Plank, director of the Washington County Highway Department, said enough snow fell Friday morning to cover some secondary county roads and keep crews out clearing and treating roads with salt.

The Maryland State Highway Administration issued the following news release just after 11 a.m. Thursday: ---- In the aftermath of the winter storm, the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) and the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) remain fully deployed and continue storm clean up operations. “One hundred percent of SHA’s personnel and equipment have been out since before the storm hit Wednesday afternoon. While there have been dramatic improvements in the last several hours, motorists need to know that hazards still linger,” said SHA Administrator Neil J. Pedersen.

State and local transportation officials said Tuesday that road crews are prepared with enough salt to attack the next winter storm that moves through Washington County. Washington County Highway Director Ed Plank said he was expecting a 500-ton shipment of salt to arrive today in case another storm blankets the roadways with ice and snow. "We'll be in pretty good shape," Plank said. "We're holding our own on salt. " Plank said Washington County road crews began salting roads at about 9 p.m. Monday to prepare for a storm that dropped roughly 1 1/2 inches of snow and ice. Crews were expected to stay out into this morning to finish clearing roads of snow from Monday's storm and anything that might follow.