Around 9:35 p.m. Wednesday, members of Valley Volunteer Fire Department responded to a structure fire at 6545 Fees Branch Road, according to Deputy Chief Ken Ashworth.
The double-wide mobile home, owned by Irvin Rowe, was fully engulfed by the time firefighters arrived, Ashworth said.
Because of the icy road conditions, he said firefighters could not get the large fire engines close to the burning home. Instead, the department had to rely on the four-wheel drive mini-pumpers, one from Valley and the other from Winfield, whose firefighters responded as mutual aid.
Members of the Ohio River Road Volunteer Fire Department also responded to stand by at the Valley station as mutual aid or to assist in other emergencies, he said.
“Because of the road conditions, we could not get the engines down the hill,” Ashworth said. “Plus, there was a tree in the middle of the road.
Fees Branch Road is a narrow dirt road that could not receive the salt treatment as other roads did. Ashworth said hoses had to be stretched from the department’s fire engines to the mini-pumpers that could get to the fire.
He said the house was a total loss and that the cause of the fire remains under investigation. At least 10 firefighters from Valley were at the scene. No injuries to the residents or firefighters were reported.
At the same time as the fire and within a three-mile area, the Winfield firefighters stopped to remove a power line from the roof of a nearby home and the ambulance crew that responded with the fire department had a medical emergency, Ashworth said.
For most of the day, Ashworth said firefighters with Valley VFD assisted crews with the West Virginia Division of Highways in removing trees from roadways. The fire station also is serving as an emergency shelter if anyone needs a place to stay due to the power outages.
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