New Martinsville Fire Fighters responded to a fire Friday afternoon at 758 North Main Street. Arriving units found the home to be heavily charged with a thick black smoke and quickly discovered that the fire, in the laundry room of the home, had been extinguished as a result of the fire burning through the supply hoses of the clothes washer.

“It wasn’t the first time that we seen this happen,” said NMVFD Fire Chief Larry Couch. “It’s been nearly 20-years since the last time I could say that the home’s plumbing saved the house but, in this case it not only saved the home, but likely prevented damage to neighboring homes as well.”

The homeowner, Madeline Adkins, wasn’t home at the time and Couch estimates that, if not self extinguished, the fire would likely not have been discovered until it was rolling out of the attic space of the home, since the small but intense fire had started to burn through the laundry room ceiling.

A mail carrier and a concerned neighbor, former City Councilman Steve Bohrer, noted water running around the exterior of the home and notified the home owner, who was doing errands at the time. When Adkins came home, they opened the front door, encountered the heavy smoke, and notified the fire department. Fire units were notified of the call at 3 p.m., and remained on scene until 4:18 p.m. Damages to the home and its contents were estimated to be $50,000.