Local News

Christmas Day flue fire leaves Elkins home a total loss

ELKINS -- A home on High Street has been deemed a total loss after a house fire kept area fire departments busy for close to six hours on Christmas Day.

The Elkins Fire Department responded to a call at approximately 4:40 p.m. Friday afternoon and when they arrived found a three-story home ablaze. Fire crews battled the blaze until almost 11 p.m. that night.

"We've determined it started around the wood stove and the flue in the basement," said Elkins Fire Department Chief Tom Meader. "It had an old flue that went up the center of the house and it was three stories with a basement. It was pretty well totaled."

Meader said the value of the home was estimated at approximately $80,000 and that there was also an additional $30,000 worth of property destroyed. The Elkins Fire Department had 19 firefighters on scene and help was called in from Beverly, Coalton, Leading Creek, Station 3 in Barbour County and Station 1 in Buckhannon. He said there were approximately 40 fire fighters battling the blaze.

"It was a tough one to fight and we really worked hard on it," Meader said. "It was one of those old houses that you have to fight your butt off to get it put out. The cold weather didn't help us either as we had a lot of ice and everything was freezing up, like our ladders and turn-out gear."

The Elkins Police Department and the City of Elkins street and water departments also proved assistance on scene.

"The City of Elkins street and water departments really worked with us, and I appreciate it," Meader said. "We had plenty of good water supply and the street crew did a good job of keeping the street salted where the water was running down the hill and freezing. They also had to haul our frozen ladders back to the station in a dump truck."

Meader said no one was injured in the fire and that he believes a male individual lived in the residence alone. He also noted the owner had fire insurance.

Besides the fire, the Elkins Fire Department responded to two more calls on Christmas Day, a tractor trailer stuck on Shaver's Mountain and a single vehicle accident on Georgetown Road.

"For Christmas Day, we were pretty busy," Meader said. "It really never stopped the entire day."