Weekend Incidents Keep NM Fire Department Busy
New Martinsville Volunteer Firefighters responded to several calls over the weekend.
The first, in a series of calls, came at 9:51 p.m., Friday evening when the New Martinsville Police Department dispatched the fire department to a residential fire alarm at 812 North Main Street. Firefighters arrived on the scene at 9:54 p.m. and found what appeared to be some loose wiring to a smoke detector in the attic of the home which may have caused activation of the detector.
On Saturday, at 1:15 p.m., Wetzel County 911 received a call from a Pike Street home in New Martinsville reporting that they could see a home at 169 Central Street on fire. A Wetzel County Sheriff’s Deputy in the area at the time of the call confirmed that the home was on fire and guided fire department units into the residence.
NMVFD personnel arrived to the scene at 1:22 p.m. and declared the fire under control at 1:37 p.m.
The fire in this home was contained to the kitchen of the home with extensive heat and smoke damage to the remainder of the home.No one was home at the time of the fire but two family pets were assisted from the home by firefighters.NMVFD Fire Chief Larry Couch reported that the fire originated in the kitchen and appeared to have begun in an area between the kitchen sink and stove, but the actual cause for the fire remains undetermined.
Couch put damage estimates between $25,000 and $30,000 in that fire. TheNMVFD was assisted at that scene by the Paden City Volunteer Fire Company.
During the Central Street fire a motorcycle crash occurred at approximately 2:02 p.m. on Whiteman Hill Road on private property. Because of the Central Street fire, EMS and Paden City fire units had to use Pike Street to access Whiteman Hill Road.This crash resulted in New Martinsville firefighters as well as Paden City firefighters who were at the Central Street call to also respond to establish a landing zone for a helicopter in the old golf course south of North Street near the old club house.
At 7:21 p.m. New Martinsville fire units were dispatched to Abbie View Apartments, Apt. #109, for a fire alarm activation. Upon arrival, firefighters found a fire had occurred on the stove-top and that it had activated the sprinkler head in the kitchen, extinguishing the fire and discharging a large volume of water that leaked into both neighboring apartments on the north and south sides of the apartment of origin.
Couch placed the damages there at between $15,000 and $20,000 dollars, the majority of that being water damage.
At 9:59 p.m. Saturday, NMVFD was sent to the intersection of Duerr and Second Streets to investigate power lines arcing in some trees between Second Street and state Route 2. New Martinsville City Electric arrived on scene and advised they would trim the trees back from the lines.There appeared to be no damage to the lines, power equipment, or to any homes in the area.
The last in the series of calls for the department came at 4:12 a.m. Sunday when NMVFD’s ambulance was summoned to a North Street apartment where it was reported that an infant had stopped breathing. Firefighters transported a patient from that scene to Wetzel County Hospital.