Pictures

Cash Valley Rd Barn Fire

CUMBERLAND — Fire of an unknown origin destroyed a barn on Cash Valley Road late Thursday and injured the owner as he tried to free his cattle from the burning structure.

The owner suffered burns in the 11:20 p.m. incident and was taken to Memorial Hospital by the LaVale Rescue Squad. He was released following treatment for injuries to his left arm and right hand, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Several cattle and a dog perished in the fire, which destroyed the 50-by-100-foot heavy timber barn at 11515 Cash Valley Road.

The fire caused a loss estimated at $100,000 to the structure and $5,000 to its contents.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by Deputy Fire Marshal Ed Ernst.

“It does not appear to be suspicious but we are cognizant of the fact that there have been several barn fires in the area in recent weeks,” said Deputy Chief Fire Marshal Jason Mowbray. “But obviously it is still early into the investigation.”

A possible cause under review by investigators is the recent storing of fresh hay inside the barn.

Seventy-five volunteer firefighters responded to the scene, including companies from Ellerslie, Corriganville, LaVale, Hyndman, Bowman’s Addition, Bowling Green, Frostburg, Wellersburg, Baltimore Pike, District 16, Midland, Clarysville and Ridgeley. Units were on the call until 5 a.m.

A rekindle of the structure occurred about two hours later, prompting Ellerslie, Corriganville and Mount Savage to return to the scene for nearly three hours, according to the Allegany County 911 Joint Communications Division.

Mout Savage Rd  Structure Fire

4th Alarm Commercial Working Fire Frostburg

On May 26th, at 00:16 hours company 16 was alerted for a commercial business fire at 1 W. Main St. Frostburg Ambulance 359 was first on scene and advised heavy black smoke showing from the front and rear of the building. Based on this info D/C 16, Eric Yates, requested the working assignment. Engine 164 and Truck 16 were the first fire units on scene and went to work. A crew entered the first floor of the building to find no fire, only intense amounts of smoke and heat. The crew pulled out to investigate further and crews found the bulk of the fire in the basement. Crews from Clarysville and Shaft entered the basement, but were unable to make an attack on the fire due to adverse conditions. Around this time the second alarm was struck. A crew from Co. 16 reentered the first floor of the building only to find the floor collapsed approximately 30 to 50 feet inside the door. The crew quickly exited the building and the evacuation was sounded and the operation went to a defensive attack only. Command utilized the ladder pipe on truck 16, truck 2, and quint rescue 8 to regain enough control to allow crews to reenter the building once again. The fire went to four alarms plus extra engine companies and a truck from Oakland, MD. Chief 16, Nate Blubaugh had west main st command. In total 32 fire companies were on scene along with 6 ambulance companies. Two firefighters were transported to the hospital only to be released before the operation had ended. The fire was declared out around 08:00 and the last units cleared the scene around 09:30.

Units on Scene:

Frostburg- Engine 164, Truck 16, Squad 16, Command Unit 16

Shaft- Engine 171, Engine 172

Clarysville- Engine Tanker 14, Air 14

Mount Savage- Engine 152, Squad 15, Ambulance 379

Lonaconing (Goodwill)- Engine Rescue 20, Utility 20

Eastern Garrett- Engine 81, Squad 85

LaVale- Engine Rescue 2, Truck 2, Squad 2

Bowling Green- Quint Rescue 8

Midland- Engine 182, Squad 18

Ridgely- Engine 25-13

Piedmont (Tri-Towns)- Truck 24

Rawlings- Engine Rescue 47

Cresaptown- Engine 92, Ambulance 398

Ellersile- Engine Rescue 6

Corriganville- Engine 52

Barton- Engine Tanker 19

Potomac (Westernport)- Engine Tanker 22

McCoole- Engine Rescue 23

Bedford Road- Engine 31

Grantsville- Engine 61.

Oakland- Truck 44

Salisbury- Brush 618-9

Myersdale- Engine 617-4

Baltimore Pike- Engine Rescue 4 @ Co. 16 Sta. 2

Wellersburg- Engine 302 standby @ Sta. 30

Engine 45-11 standby @ Sta. 45

Fountian- Engine Rescue 39 standby @ Co. 22

Bloomington- Engine 361 standby @ Co. 19

Hyndman- ER 29 standby @ Co. 6

Frostburg Ambulance- PM 359, AMB 364

Georges Creek Ambulance- 363

LaVale Rescue Squad- 371

Frostburg Police Dept.

Allegany Fire Police

Article From Cumberland Times News

Jeffrey Alderton
Cumberland Times-News

FROSTBURG — The third major fire within a one-block area of the city’s business district in the last five years destroyed a three-story building at 1 E. Main early Tuesday, putting Gianni’s Pizza Shop out of business and damaging the adjoining Crestmont Gentlemen’s Apparel Store.

Two volunteer firefighters were taken to a Cumberland hospital for treatment of heat exhaustion and a third was treated at the scene during the four-alarm fire that broke out at about 12:15 a.m. None of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening.

Investigators of the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office remained at the scene throughout the day searching for the cause of the fire in the three-story brick building that formerly housed the Prichard’s Department Store.

“Our first units at the scene found smoke coming from the basement,” said Frostburg Volunteer Fire Chief Nathan Blubaugh, who directed the fire operation that brought more than 100 firefighters from Allegany and Garrett counties and nearby West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

The fire caused damage initially estimated at $300,000. It also forced overnight evacuation of residents of the Gunter Hotel to a shelter set up at the nearby Frostburg Community Center by the American Red Cross. Hotel residents were being allowed to return by 9 a.m., according to desk clerk Ryan McKenzie.

Main Street Books owner Fred Powell ventilated his business at 2 E. Main, just across the alley from the fire location.

“We’ve been through this before. This is the second time. It doesn’t seem to be as much damage as from Gandalf’s (fire at Lyric Building in February 2004).

“I’m optimistic it’s not going to be that bad,” said Powell, whose business remained closed Tuesday due to possible smoke damage. The building, owned by Tom Ostendorf, has housed Powell’s business for the last 10 years and also contained three upper-level apartments that were evacuated by the fire.

Gianni’s owner Joe Crawford was visibly upset. He said the business employed 15 workers and declined further comment. The business was closed Monday due to the holiday.

Crestmont owner Jim Barnes stood outside the business that he has operated at 7 W. Main since 1961.

“Our main concern right now is taking care of our customers. We have weddings and other events coming up and we have obligations to fulfill and we will,” said Barnes.

The business will remain at the same location “if the building is determined to be structurally sound” he said.

“Right now, we are looking for a temporary place to serve our customers. It’s a temporary inconvenience. We will be back quickly and we will be back strong.

“The city is strong and I don’t think it’s a setback for the city at all. I’ve had so many calls from people offering help and support,” he said.

Some of that support was offered by Main Street Manager Jerilyn Jackson.

“We’ll do anything we can to help the affected businesses,” said Jackson, who was in contact with state officials concerning business recovery help.

“I’ve been very impressed with the property owners and business owners in dealing with this. Everyone is looking at this as an inconvenience but they all have a positive attitude,” she said.

A short time after the last fire unit cleared the scene, Brandon Reece waited patiently for permission by fire officials to enter the former Prichard’s building that he purchased in 2000.

“I bought this building because of its structural soundness. This building dates back to the 1890s and you can’t replace that. It doesn’t matter what you do,” he said.

Reece said he was involved in recent discussions with the city concerning possible facade improvements and business ventures for the second floor of the building that faces Broadway.

“This is a beautiful building with a lot of history. It’s very frustrating.” said Reece, whose immediate plan was to board up the building to prevent greater damage. “We want to get inside as soon as possible to assess the damage. Moisture on wood dating back to the 1900s just kills this building.”

Blubaugh said firefighters expended a million gallons of water to fully extinguish the fire by 8 a.m., an hour and a half after it was declared “under control.”

The fire operation was hampered by a double roof. “The lower roof was metal that stopped the fire from burning through. The building also had a dumb waiter system that served as a chimney and extended the fire to the attic and third floor,” said Blubaugh, who said he had no information concerning the cause of the fire.

He also commended his fellow firefighters. “For what hand was dealt to us, we did the best we could and everyone did an excellent job.”

Reece noted that Frostburg has had “its fair share” of fires.

“Unfortunately, Frostburg has had its setbacks. This is a shame. Frostburg is a beautiful town,” he said. “Hopefully, we can turn this from a cloud into a silver lining somewhere.”

City Councilwoman Susan Keller remained optimistic. “We’ve been through this before and we will get through it again. It’s hard now as we look though the smoke and the debris, but out of fires of the past really great things have happened. I have great faith we’ll get through this.”

Tuesday’s fire brought 30 volunteer fire companies to the scene along with six ambulance squads and the Allegany County Fire Police.

The Allegany County Roads Department transported diesel fuel to the scene for tankers that were depleting their fuel during the several-hour fire operation.

The State Highway Administration was notified of the incident, which closed a section of U.S. Route 40 in the city for more than eight hours.

On Feb. 1, 2004, a four-alarm fire gutted the former Lyric Theatre building at 16-24 E. Main. The fire began in a furnace room in the basement beneath Gandalf’s Restaurant & Pub.

On May 21, 2005, fire that was suspected to be arson destroyed the Mary Carol Shop at 19 E. Main. The fire originated in a second-floor storage room at the rear of the building.

Box 6/2 Landis Rd Ellerslie

AT 11:43 pm units responded on box 6-2 Landis Rd for a working house fire first arriving units found fully involved structure units on scene were Companys 6,5,15,2,29,30,11,3 units ET-6,ER-6,A6,E5,MP5,E15,SQ2,E30,T30,E29,T29,E11,T3 were scene for about 2 1/2 hours