Mary Myers was rescued from a blaze in her 407 Beech Street home by two escort drivers for Litman Excavating who noticed the fire and heard her calling for help as they called 911.

A New Martinsville woman narrowly escaped an early morning fire Saturday that destroyed her home.

Mary Myers, who is confined to a wheelchair and lived alone at 407 Beech Street, New Martinsville, woke to her dog barking at the noise of her smoke detector. She realized her home was on fire and struggled to move herself from her bed to her wheelchair and maneuver herself through her home in the dark and past the blaze to the safety of the outside of her home.

As Myers was maneuvering her way through her home, two escort drivers from Litman Excavating noticed the blaze. Myers’ daughter, Crystal Young, said one of them called 911 and tried to get in the front door. They then heard Myers calling for help. She had gotten out of the house, but about a foot from the back door her wheelchair became stuck, unable to get around her carport support and car.

The men, Gavin Robertson and Russell Rose, moved her to safety away from the rapidly growing blaze inside the home.

“They are heroes,” said Young.

Mary Myers holds her dog who alerted her to the smoke detectors going off in her home Saturday.

Fire fighters deployed an initial attack line to protect the home at 411 Beech Street, which was already being damaged by the neighboring blaze, and then additional lines to attack and extinguish the intense fire in the home.  The initial call of the fire was dispatched to firefighters at 2:14 a.m. with firefighters on scene at 2:21 a.m. The fire was declared under control at 3:13 a.m. and remained on scene until 5 a.m.

The Paden City Volunteer Fire Company, New Martinsville Police Department, Wetzel County EMS,  New Martinsville Water Department, New Martinsville Electric Department, and Mountaineer Gas Assisted at the scene.

The home was declared to be a total loss, according to NMVFD Fire Chief Larry Couch.  “It (the home) was completely gutted inside and the structure will likely be razed in the interest of public safety,” Couch said.

The cause of the accidental fire, in an initial investigation, appears to have possibly been electrical in nature and appears to have begun in a bedroom on the north-east side of the home.  From the damage to the interior of the home and the fire condition shortly after firefighters arrived at the scene, it appears that there may have been what firefighters refer to as a flashover that rapidly consumed the interior components of the home, according to Couch.

Myers’ daughter Bev Pritt says her mother is doing fine and currently staying with her in southern West Virginia. Also, she said since her mother’s address book was lost in the fire, she cannot contact many of her friends and family. If anyone is looking to talk with her, she can be reached at 304-574-1247.

The photo of a kitchen cabinet emphasizes who destructive the flames were.