Fire Damage

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A Thursday fire that caused minor injuries to two Chambersburg firefighters, and minor damage to a historic local building, is believed to have started when sparks from welding equipment ignited coal dust in the basement, fire officials said Friday. Workers are gutting the four-story brick building owned by Menno Haven, a complex for the elderly on Philadelphia Avenue, in preparation for its renovation into a 55-unit apartment complex, said Conrad Peachey, executive vice president of Menno Haven.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. --A fire that appeared to start in the living room of a mobile home displaced a Martinsburg-area family on Tuesday, Baker Heights Volunteer Fire Department 1st Lt. Dennis Soward said. No one was injured in the fire at 56 Majestic Drive, Soward said. The cause of the fire, which was reported at 5:26 p.m., is under investigation. Flames could be seen coming out of the front of the home when firefighters arrived, but fire damage was contained to the living room of the double-wide trailer, Soward said.

ROUZERVILLE, Pa. - Firefighters on Thursday afternoon returned to a home in the Beartown area of Washington Township, Pa., for the third time in two months. The Blue Ridge Fire & Rescue Squad was called to 11114 Woodring Lane at 1:15 p.m. and remained there for three hours, Administrator Patrick E. Fleagle said. Firefighters went to the single-story home at Christmastime when problems arose with heat tape that had been applied to pipes, Fire Chief Jim Meek said. A small fire shortly thereafter remained under investigation by the Washington Township Police Department, he said.

No injuries were reported from a fire Sunday morning that left a house in the southern end of the county uninhabitable, Boonsboro Fire Chief Oley Griffith said. The state fire marshal's office was investigating the cause of the fire at 2625 Kaetzel Road, Griffith said. Firefighters were dispatched to the fire at 8:46 a.m. Sunday, a 911 supervisor said. A fire in a finished basement in a remodeled log house spread upstairs, Griffith said. There was fire damage to the basement and first floor, and smoke damage to the second floor, he said.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- The M&K Market grocery store and deli was closed after a Saturday night fire, Waynesboro Volunteer Fire Department Chief David Martin said Sunday. Nobody was hurt in the fire, which was reported when the store was closed, Martin said. Approximately 60 firefighters went to the fire northeast of Waynesboro, which was reported by several people Saturday night, Martin said. The fire at the 11359 Anthony Highway store, which was once a Henicle's Market, was reported at 10:03 p.m. Saturday, according to Franklin County Emergency Services.

Three volunteer firefighters were injured Wednesday morning while battling a house fire at 264 First St. in Shenandoah Junction, a fire company official said. Two of the injured firefighters from the Shepherdstown (W.Va.) Fire Department were taken toWashington, D.C., for treatment of what appeared to be nonlife-threatening burns, according to Chief Ben Money of the Citizens Fire Co. in Charles Town, W.Va. The firefighters were part of a team that were battling the blaze inside the home, Money said.

CHARLES TOWN, W.VA. - Firefighters returning from a Sunday morning fire that left eight people homeless on West Washington Street were called to a fire that consumed 30 acres of a hayfield in nearby Rippon, W.Va., in Jefferson County, officials said. The fire at 306 W. Washington St., reported at 10:49 a.m., "burnt up one apartment and severely damaged two others" on the fourth floor, said Chief Ed Smith of Independent Fire Co. A business, Children's Ministries, occupies the first floor of the building owned by Carlos Viederhauser, while apartments are on the second, third and fourth floors.

Hagerstown firefighters responding to a house fire Thursday afternoon resuscitated a dog overcome by smoke, a Hagerstown Fire Department spokesman said. The 4 p.m. fire at 257 Belview Ave. was caused by something left on a stove in a basement, and the fire damage was mostly contained to the area around the stove, Battalion Chief Randy Myers said. A woman who lived in the house off Pennsylvania Avenue returned home and smoke rolled out the door as she tried to enter, Myers said.

HAGERSTOWN -- The Hagerstown Fire Department is investigating the cause of an attic fire that occurred at about 3:05 p.m. Wednesday in a house at 338 N. Cannon Ave. Deputy Fire Chief R.D. Myers said it took firefighters about 10 minutes to knock it down. "We got it out very quickly," he said. A boy who was crying into a blanket was taken away on a stretcher by Community Rescue Service personnel. Myers said no other injuries were reported, but residents of the house said a cat was missing.

A Hagerstown fire marshal credited working smoke detectors with alerting eight people to a fire early Friday morning in a house on Mitchell Avenue. One person, a 43-year-old man who was in the basement where the fire apparently started, was taken to Meritus Medical Center in serious condition with "complications due to an existing medical condition," according to a city news release. The man's condition apparently was aggravated by smoke inhalation from the blaze, Hagerstown Fire Chief Kyd Dieterich said.