Fire Damage

chambersburg@herald-mail.com WAYNESBORO, PA. - Damage from a two-alarm apartment house fire Friday afternoon was limited, but seven people were temporarily displaced from the building until repairs are made. "When we pulled up and saw the smoke coming out of all four sides of the building it looked worse than it was," Waynesboro Fire Chief Ron Flegel said. He said no one was in the building at the time of the fire and no one was injured. The fire was caused by old wiring in the basement of 34 S. Church St., a two-story brick apartment building with four units, Flegel said.

HANCOCK - A 10-year-old boy escaped a house fire Saturday afternoon by climbing onto the front porch roof of his grandmother's house, said Hancock Fire Company Chief Ernie Truax. At first afraid to jump down, the boy, who was wearing only his underwear, finally jumped into the arms of Hancock-area resident Tom Golden, said another Hancock-area resident, Robert McCusker. McCusker said he covered the boy with one of his coats until the Hancock Rescue Squad arrived. Clarence Meyers Jr. was treated for smoke inhalation and released from War Memorial Hospital in Berkeley Springs, W.Va.

BUNKER HILL, W.Va. -- A 48-year-old woman was carried from a burning town house south of Inwood, W.Va., early Thursday by two men who saw the flames as they were driving by on Winchester Avenue, police said. Patricia "Pat" Miller, 48, was in critical but stable condition at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore on Friday evening, according to a hospital spokesman. Police previously said the woman was being treated for severe smoke inhalation at City Hospital in Martinsburg, where she was initially taken.

Hancock house damaged by fire HANCOCK - An accidental fire east of Hancock left a man temporarily displaced from his home Friday, according to a state fire marshal. The fire at 8905 Corner Road apparently began when an ember from a wood stove in the basement ignited nearby wood being stored for the stove, said Deputy Chief Allen Ward. No one was injured or home at the time of the fire, Ward said. The owner and resident of the house, Gregory Lighty, 35, was to spend the night at a friend's home, Ward said.

How do you get people to use common sense? Mike Weller wishes he knew for sure. But Weller, the life safety educator for the Hagerstown Fire Department, is going to try something new to get rental tenants to watch what's cooking on the stove and pay attention to what their children are doing. It's a fire safety contract that comes on the back of an information pamphlet the department gives out to everyone who gets a free smoke alarm. Under the contract, tenants agree that they will pay for fire damage that results from their neglect or inattentiveness.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG - A Chambersburg man pleaded guilty to several charges stemming from arsons at two local schools last spring. Eric Todd Woods, 21, of 2795B Letterkenny Road, entered guilty pleas on two counts of burglary and one count of institutional vandalism, according to the District Attorney's Office. Woods, who entered into the plea agreement last week, will be sentenced in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas on March 19. In exchange, Woods will not be sentenced on other charges, including two counts of arson, one count of criminal mischief and one count of theft.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The investigation into fires deliberately set at two Chambersburg-area schools earlier this month has turned up several leads, but no arrests have been made. Four separate fires were discovered burning inside and outside the Cumberland Valley Christian School in Hamilton Township at 4:21 a.m. June 5. Damage was estimated at $150,000, school and fire officials said. Two days later, someone attempted to set a fire behind Falling Spring Elementary School, 1006 Falling Spring Road.

BUNKER HILL, W.VA. - Strong wind gusts on Thursday night ripped off a large section of the green metal roof of Christ Church, one of Berkeley County's oldest Episcopal houses of worship. "I am deeply saddened that Christ Church, Bunker Hill, has again been damaged by natural or human disasters," W. Michie Klusmeyer, the Bishop of the Episcopal Church of West Virginia, said Friday after surveying the damage at the church off Runnymeade Road. "We continue to be committed to restoring it ... our insurance company is fast on track to protect the building from any further damage from its most recent situation," Klusmeyer said.

A Tuesday night blaze that gutted a two-story duplex and damaged a duplex next door likely was caused by a faulty cord on a refrigerator, according to Hagerstown Fire Marshal John Hersh. cont. from front page Hersh spent several hours at 620-622 George St. Thursday examining the contents after contractors used a crane to remove the roof of the wood-frame house. The building was owned by Thomas Reilly, who lived there with his family. The fire started at 620 George St. and spread to 622, and then to the duplex next door at 616-618 George St. The fire caused some damage to the roof and interior of 618. The second duplex is owned by Doug Diehl of Smithsburg and is rented out to two families.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Robert Brooks was putting together a puzzle on the floor with his 3-year-old son when he heard his neighbors' smoke alarms going off and saw smoke when he looked outside. At first, Brooks thought his neighbors in the duplex were grilling, but then there was a knock on the door and he realized the other side of the house was on fire. "I picked up my son and just ran out," Brooks said. The fire reported just before 6 p.m. Thursday at 259 Ringgold St. gutted two rooms in that side of the duplex and damaged a second-floor bathroom of Brooks' side at 257 Ringgold St. The fire started in a pan as Krystle Peli made supper.