Belington Fire Department honored for response to blaze
Trending
The Inter-Mountain photo by Joey Kittle
Members of the Belington Fire Department received a certificate of achievement from Lynn Phillips, a local representative for Gov. Jim Justice, during a special dinner at the fire hall.
BELINGTON -- When the fire whistle goes off in the city of Belington, a group of dedicated emergency responders are summoned to aid and protect the members of the community.
On a cold winter morning on Dec. 20, members of the Belington Volunteer Fire Department and emergency squad, along with fire departments from Junior, Philippi and Coalton and the Barbour and Randolph county emergency squads, were called to a structure fire on High Street with confirmed entrapment.
When crews arrived on scene, heavy smoke was showing and firefighters made entry with great dispatch information provided by Barbour 911.
Both occupants -- a male and female -- were located in the smoke-filled residence and removed, and treatment for both residents was started by fire department personal at the scene.
"It was determined the cause of the fire was accidental in nature," BVFD chief Phil Hart said. "It was due to a heating source."
The patients were transfered to Davis Medical Center and later to a Pittsburgh hospital.
"I'm happy to report both individuals have been released and are recovering from their injuries," Hart said.
The action of the emergency responders didn't go unnoticed by the community, as Belington residents Cherri Sturm and Billie Jo Hunt thought some type of recognition was in order.
Recently, Sturm and Hunt organized a lasagna dinner for the emergency responders.
"This (a dinner for the responders) is something we wanted to do for a long time," Sturm said. "But with the pandemic, it was hard to really get anything together.
"We are very fortunate in our small town to have such dedicated firemen and emergency squad members and we want this to become an annual event to show our appreciation for them."
Lynn Phillips, a representative for Gov. Jim Justice, awarded the firemen a certificate of achievement during the evening.
With the COVID-19 pandemic limiting fund-raising efforts for fire departments around the state, BVFD is currently selling Spring Cash Bash tickets. The event will take place April 17 at the fire department, with doors opening at 11 a.m.
A total of $18,000 in cash will be available. Contact a member of the BVFD to purchase tickets.