By Mikie Dumire
The Parsons Advocate
Mid Mountain Dr, Hillside Road in Timberline was the scene of what seems to be a rash of house fires in Tucker County. Canaan Valley Volunteer Fire Department responded to the scene and was quickly assisted by Davis, Thomas, Parsons and Harman Volunteer Fire Departments. Leading Creek stood by to cover the Parsons area and Mt. Grove and Mt. Storm covered for Thomas and Davis. Tucker County EMS, the Parsons Detachment of the West Virginia State Police, Tucker County Sheriff’s Department and Tucker 911 provided valuable assistance as well.
Canaan Valley Volunteer Fire Department’s Chief Sandy Green said, “The road to the house was steep and snow covered, within the first minutes of our arrival we put 3,300 gallons of water on the fire and couldn’t even slow it down, it was well advanced by our arrival and burning so quickly.” The steep snow covered road soon became very icy, Green stated, “The West Virginia Department of Highways provided emergency treatment of the icy roadway.” Thomas, Davis and Parsons protected a nearby structure until it was deemed danger free, then moved to provide additional assistance at the scene. Green said, “Everybody knew what they had to do and did it.”
Green stated, “The cause of the fire is undetermined and under investigation and does not seem suspicious.” The house was occupied at the time.
Incident Commander, Captain Bob Metzger, was the first to arrive on scene. Metzger said, “When I arrived on scene the ridge vent was heavily involved. We started putting water on it immediately, however it seemed to be having no effect, the situation rapidly became a defensive operation.” Metzger said there was another structure approximately 125 to 150 feet away which they were protecting as well. Metzger stated, “Initially we shuttled water from a pond until we could get set up at the closest hydrant which was 1,300 feet away.” Units were on scene until approximately 2 a.m. Friday morning.
