BUCKHANNON – A decision to shut the doors of a Buckhannon Mountain Road house that caught fire Saturday may have saved the residence from completely burning to the ground.
The Buckhannon Fire Department responded to several structure fires over the weekend and early this week, with a structure fire that occurred March 20 resulting in about a 30 percent loss, career firefighter John Brugnoli with the BFD said Tuesday.
A fire that broke out Saturday afternoon at 823 Buckhannon Mountain Road was not accessible via fire truck because the driveway leading up to it was so steep. Brugnoli estimated the BFD had to utilize about 700 feet of hose to reach it.
“It was not suspicious, but it was pretty extensive,” he said. “[The residents] were home, and they probably saved about 70 percent of the house by shutting the doors when they left, which kept the whole house from burning down.”
Although people were inside when the fire erupted, they exited in time, and no one was injured. Two bedrooms and a bathroom were completely destroyed by the flames, Brugnoli said. Although the West Virginia State Fire Marshal’s Office will investigate the incident, the fire was accidental and is not suspicious, he added.
Just the day prior, Friday, March 19, an accidental fire sparked by a faulty contractor’s light occurred at about 5:30 p.m. at a residence located at 172 Kanawha Street, across from Advanced Auto Parts.
“It was accidental,” Brugnoli said. “The house is being remodeled and what we believe was a work light or a contractor’s light caused it. There was some smoke damage throughout the whole second floor and a little bit of water damage, but the fire damage was mainly contained to two bedrooms.”
No one was inside at the time of the fire.
“We got really lucky because we had several people here (at the fire department) at the time the call went out, and so we were able to get there really quickly,” he added.
