Firefighters battle house, cabin fires

Area firefighters fought a mobile home fire on Tuesday, July 3 in the Valley High Timber Farms subdivision outside of Great Cacapon.

The fire call came in around 5 p.m. for 21 Roberts Road, which is off Gamble Lane, said Great Cacapon Volunteer Fire Company Assistant Chief Matt Grimley, who was in charge of the scene.

When firefighters arrived, the mobile home fire was fully involved and most of the structure was on the ground, Grimley said. No one was home at the time. There were no injuries.

The fire was originally dispatched as a smoke investigation with an unknown location, he said. Someone had noticed smoke from Nebo Road and called it in. As Grimley saw the size of the column of smoke as they got closer, he requested a structure fire assignment.

The fire was contained to the original structure. Firefighters had it under control in around 30 minutes, Grimley said. The mobile home was a complete loss. The cause of the blaze is unknown. The fire marshal has been contacted.
Units from the Great Cacapon, Berkeley Springs, Paw Paw, South Morgan, Hancock, Needmore, Little Orleans and Reynolds Store Volunteer Fire Companies responded to the fire, along with Morgan County Emergency Medical Services. They remained on the scene for around three hours. The American Red Cross was also there.

The fire rekindled on July 4 and they had to return to the scene and put it out, Grimley said.

Cabin fire
Firefighters also battled a cabin fire on Gokey Lane off Clarion Lane on early Saturday, June 30 in Great Cacapon, the night that severe thunderstorms knocked out electric power and telephones to the area and state.

The fire call came in between 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m., Grimley said. Someone had noticed smoke from Panorama and reported it.

Firefighters didn’t know the location of the fire and had to go find it, he said. It was at a small seasonal cabin that had not been used in a while. No one was at home.

The cabin was completely destroyed by the fire. Everything had fallen into the basement by the time firefighters got there. There was nothing left of the structure, Grimley said. The blaze was contained to the cabin. The cause of the fire is unknown.

Units from Great Cacapon, Berkeley Springs, Hancock, South Morgan, Paw Paw and Little Orleans Volunteer Fire Companies responded to the call as well as the Morgan County Emergency Medical Services. They were on the scene around two hours. There were no injuries.