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One Dead in Hampshire County Fire

January 24th, 2021 by WCBC Radio

One person was killed early Saturday in a fire that broke out in Hampshire County.
The Romney Fire Company issued the following release:

On 01/23/21 @ approximately 0311 hours, Residential Box 1-3 was dispatched for a structure fire in the 5800 block of Grassy Lick Rd. Engine 1 arrived on the scene finding a well-involved structure that had already suffered a partial collapse.

Initial reports indicated occupants being home, and potentially still inside the structure. An aggressive search operation was performed on the Side Charlie and Delta parts of the structure where the occupant of the house was believed to be located.

Crews searched for approximately 7 minutes under heavy fire load before conditions reached a level of IDLH deemed unviable to survival. The deteriorating fire conditions as well as exploding propane tanks forced crews to exit the building. Once the fire was knocked down, an extensive secondary search began, and the occupant of the residence was located.

Once the victim was located, all fire department operations ceased until the arrival of the West Virginia State Fire Marshal’s office arrived. Units remained on the scene for approximately 8 hours until all operations and the initial investigation was complete.

Romney Engine 1, Engine-Rescue 1 and Brush 1 responded with 10 volunteers.

Mutual aid was received by Augusta Company 3, Slanesville Company 5, Levels Company 6, Hampshire EMS Company 10, Fort Ashby Company 37, and Springfield Company 42. New Creek Engine 38 transferred to Station 1, and Burlington Company 44 held a crew in their station. North River Company 7 transferred an Engine to Augusta Station 3.

Chief 1 Parsons had the Grassy Lick Rd Command. All units cleared the scene by 1130hrs