Firefighters

A mechanical failure in an oil-burning furnace started a five-alarm fire Monday that caused an estimated $500,000 in damages to the former Wolfe's on the Square building in downtown Williamsport, the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said. The fire was reported at 7:18 a.m. Monday in an outbuilding that housed the furnace and the fire quickly spread through the three-story structure, according to a fire marshal's office news release. One occupied apartment and the L&J discount liquor store were on the first floor of the building.

A Longmeadow Volunteer Fire Co. firefighter received a second-degree burn to the hand after a Saturday morning chimney fire in the Smithsburg area flashed up the chimney, Longmeadow Fire Chief Jason Eckstine said. The volunteer firefighter was taken to Meritus Medical Center and was released about four hours later, Eckstine said. It will be a couple of days before the firefighter returns to service, Eckstine said Sunday. Longmeadow was assisting Smithsburg Community Volunteer Fire Co. on a chimney fire call in the 13200 block of Edgemont Road shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday, according to an email from James Ulrich, chief of operations for Smithsburg Emergency Medical Services.

Firefighters worked to free three people from a white four-door Pontiac after a two-vehicle crash Friday night at the intersection of West Washington and Jonathan streets in Hagerstown, according to city police. The Pontiac came to rest on the sidewalk facing the opposite way on West Washington Street against a pole with damage to the driver's side door. The other vehicle - a white Chrysler passenger car being driven by a sole occupant, a Hagerstown police officer said - displayed heavy front end damage and was leaking fluids onto the pavement after emergency personnel arrived.

Firefighters were at the scene of a mobile home fire that was reported at about 8 a.m. Wednesday in the 200 block of Burnside Drive near Marlowe, a Berkeley County Emergency Services supervisor said. Further details were not immediately available.

Firefighters responded to a minor fire Tuesday morning at 1150 Conrad Court in Hagerstown, a Washington County Emergency Services supervisor said. The supervisor said the fire started at about 8:15 a.m. in a small piece of machinery at Direct Mail Processors. Firefighters stayed on the scene for a short time to ventilate the building.

It's not an everyday open house where parents stand watching their children run into fiery buildings and battle raging infernos. But that's just what was on the agenda Saturday afternoon at Washington County Public Schools' Fire and Rescue Academy open house. “Folks, these are high school students who just did all that,” said Jamie Drawbaugh, training coordinator for the academy. “They could be coming to your house.” The 14 students of the academy had just put out fires in a van and in a burn house in two simulated incidents at the Hagerstown Fire Department Training Center.

A two-story house was heavily damaged in a Friday night fire that drew firefighters from three counties, Shepherdstown Volunteer Fire Department Lt. Zac Morgan said. The 6:45 p.m. fire at 199 Berridge Drive apparently started upstairs, but the cause still was under investigation, Morgan said Friday night. The two occupants escaped injury, as did all of the responding firefighters, he said. The fire took about 45 minutes to bring under control and the house likely will be a total loss, Morgan said.

Firefighters were starting to clean up after a barn fire Sunday morning in Metal Township in northwestern Franklin County, Pa., according to Franklin County Emergency Services. No injuries had been reported, a 911 dispatcher said around 12:50 p.m. Sunday. While the fire had not officially been reported out at the scene by 12:48 p.m. Sunday, firefighters were starting to clean up at the scene, the 911 dispatcher said. The barn fire in the 10400 block of Back Road was reported at 9:43 a.m. Sunday, another dispatcher said.

Firefighters were dispatched to a house fire Tuesday night in the Back Creek Valley area of Berkeley County, officials said. The American Red Cross was contacted to assist the homeowners at 195 Cherub Run, according to a Berkeley County 911 emergency dispatch supervisor. Hedgesville Volunteer Fire Co. was the primary responder to the fire, which was reported at 7:35 p.m., according to the dispatcher.