Fire Damage

A home on National Pike near Clear Spring was damaged Saturday morning when a chimney fire spread into the wall and floor, Clear Spring Volunteer Fire Department Chief Mike Reid said. The house, a single-family Cape Cod at 13815 National Pike, had moderate damage, but the residents decided to stay in it, Reid said. Two people live in the house, he said. The fire began in the chimney as the residents were burning a wood stove, Reid said. Fire companies from Maugansville, Williamsport, Halfway and Franklin County, Pa., assisted at the scene.

Firefighters battled a blaze at the former Fleetwood Travel Trailers plant this afternoon that did an estimated $15,000 to $20,000 in damage, according to a fire official. Lt. Randy Poole of the Hancock Volunteer Fire Co. said there was heavy smoke showing when firefighters arrived at 12:37 p.m. The fire was out within 15 minutes, he said. Deputy State Fire Marshal Ed Ernst said the fire was caused by a contractor using a cutting torch in a mechanical room. He said these types of fires are common in older buildings and that there would not be any charges filed.

Two apartments were damaged in a noon fire Tuesday at 1780 Wisteria Drive near the intersection of U.S. 30 and Garman Drive. The fire started on a kitchen stove in an upstairs apartment, Fayetteville Fire Co. Assistant Chief Collin Anderson said. Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal Jeff Sarver was on the scene to pinpoint the cause. "We believe it was accidental," said Dustin Ulrich, a deputy chief for Fayetteville Fire Co. An ambulance took a woman to Chambersburg Hospital for a non-life threatening medical issue.

A fire damaged several townhouses Thursday morning in the Capital Heights development in Martinsburg, a Berkeley County Emergency Services supervisor said. Numerous fire companies were called to the scene when the fire was reported at about 3 a.m., the supervisor said. Firefighters were leaving the area by 8:30 a.m. Further details were not immediately available. 

An electrical malfunction caused a fire that damaged a home early Tuesday at 11800 Patrick Road in Hagerstown, the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office said. The fire, which was called in at about 1:30 a.m., caused $25,000 in damages to the one-story wood frame home and $5,000 to the contents, according to a fire marshal’s office press release. The fire started in a basement closet. The fire marshal's office said it took 44 firefighters about 25 minutes to get the fire under control.

An accidental electrical malfunction caused a fire Tuesday afternoon at the historic Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church at 64 S. Main St. in Boonsboro, causing $250,000 in damage and saddening church officials and residents. The fire left a large burned hole in the ceiling of the church,  and firefighters were walking through a water-soaked floor after the fire was extinguished. “I’m overwhelmed,” Pastor Joe Donovan said. Karen Cunningham stood near the front entrance of the church looking inside at the damaged area.

A Washington County Circuit Court judge last week gave a 4 1/2-year suspended sentence to a Hagerstown man charged with setting fire to his ex-girlfriend's home last year. Jeffrey Lynn Myerly, 52, 105 Elizabeth St., pleaded guilty April 25 to second-degree malicious burning and malicious destruction of property worth more than $500. Judge John H. McDowell sentenced Myerly to the 4 1/2-year sentence with all but 133 days in time already served suspended. He also placed Myerly on four years' probation and ordered him to pay $5,520 in restitution to Donna Repp.

At least seven Washington County fire companies fought a blaze Wednesday afternoon in a two-story home at 7200 Dustin Drive, northwest of Antietam National Battlefield. Sharpsburg Volunteer Fire Department Chief Allen James said no one was inside the house when the fire started at about 1:35 p.m. He said it took firefighters about 20 minutes to bring the blaze under control. James said he didn’t know what caused the fire, but believed it started on the first floor and spread to the second.

Crews battled a house fire Monday evening in a subdivision off Pa. 16 west of Greencastle. Firefighters from several companies responded at about 7 p.m. to 10099 Lindale Ave., which is in a neighborhood across from Calvary Baptist Church in Antrim Township. Fire damage was contained to the garage and attic above it, but the smoke damage extended throughout the two-story house, Rescue Hose Co. Deputy Fire Chief J.R. Koons said. Koons said a neighbor spotted the fire, called 911 and helped to evacuate a woman and her dog from the home.

Devastated by a fire six months ago, M&K Market will reopen Wednesday with the same clean, fresh and friendly motto, and a few surprises. Owner Mark Schetrompt can’t wait to see the look on customers’ faces when the doors open at 8 a.m. Wednesday. “People have been calling and asking when we’re going to reopen,” Schetrompt said. “I said right away that I’m going to reopen. It’s going to take me time, but I’m going to reopen.” M&K Market, at 11359 Anthony Highway (Pa. 997)