A fire on a stove resulted in a New Martinsville home being destroyed and closing W.Va. 2 for nearly three hours Oct. 28. The call for the fire was received by Wetzel County 911 at 3:43 p.m., in which the 911 operator reported being able hear the crackling of the fire in the background and advised the occupant to evacuate the home.

Firefighters were initially able to quickly extinguish the fire in the kitchen, but the fire had burned through the wooden wall behind the stove and traveled up through the wall and into the attic where it grew rapidly and was trapped between several walls and a complex of roof joist that slowed the firefighters’ access to the fire.

“This was one of the hardest fought house fires that we have had in quite some time,” said New Martinsville VFD Fire Chief Larry Couch. “These men and women gave 120 percent effort on controlling this fire and the end result will be that many personal mementos have been saved, things that otherwise could never have been replaced for the elderly occupant of the home.”

The structure has been declared a complete loss, with an estimated $70,000 in structural damage and another $30,000 in content damage. There were no injuries to either civilians or firefighters in the event. Firefighters from New Martinsville, Paden City, Sardis, and Clarington battled the blaze. Grandview VFD was on stand-by during the fire, while Wetzel County EMS, New Martinsville Police Department, Wetzel County Sheriff’s Dept., West Virginia Department of Highways, New Martinsville Water Department, and the American Red Cross all assisted at the scene. The fire was declared under control at 6:10 p.m. and the last fire units cleared the scene at 7:36 p.m.

“There isn’t enough that can be said for the volunteer firefighters and the folks who were passing-by and stopped to help the woman get out of her burning home,” said Couch. “All the offers of help for us as well as for the homeowner are just fabulous, we really appreciate everyone’s concern for the well being of the homeowner and the fire fighters.”