MONONGALIA COUNTY, W.Va. — A smoke detector very likely saved a young woman’s life Thursday morning when a River Road mobile home was lost to fire.
A fire at the structure, a trailer and garage at 4935 River Road, was reported to MECCA 911 just after 10 a.m. By 10:30 a.m., the structures were little more than burning rubble.
Mickey Rinehart, assistant chief with River Road Volunteer Fire Department, said nobody was injured in the blaze, though a pet dog was unaccounted for.
Rinehart explained that crews were told a heater in the mobile home’s kitchen was likely the source of the flames.
“Right now, we’re working under the impression that a heater of some kind was involved, but we’ve yet to really get in there to take a good look,” Rinehart said.
Erich Sorenson owns the property, which sits at the end of a long driveway and is not visible from the road. He explained that the structures were paid for but uninsured.
Sorenson said he’s lived on the property about 20 years and that three others were also living in the trailer. He said he rushed home from work to find the place fully engulfed in flames.
“What now,” he said as a half dozen firefighters waded into the burning remains of his home. “What do we do now, four people and five dogs.”
A woman was alone in the trailer, asleep when the smoke detector went off. She said she woke to find the kitchen on fire and the kitchen windows blown out.
Along with River Road VFD, crews from Westover and Cassville responded, as did Grant Town and Baxter VFDs, out of Marion County.
In order to get to the fire a number of trucks, including the county tanker, had to traverse a narrow bridge and a dirt drive, much of which was under water.
“The only real thing of concern was the one-lane bridge over here,” Rinehart said. “We were advised it’s a five-ton weight limit and a couple of the trucks … we just kind of held our breath and got across there. Other than that, it’s just remote, but we’re accustomed to that.”
Rinehart went on to say that crews to set up portable pumps to pull water from a nearby stream after the tanker’s supply was exhausted.
This story, which first appeared in the Dominion Post’s March 16 edition, was written by Ben Conley.