MORGANTOWN — What started as a mulch fire ended up with panels of metal siding peeled off the West Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) building, in Sabraton at 1525 Deckers Creek Boulevard on April 13.
Crews from the Morgantown Fire Department were on scene about an hour.
A small bush on the corner of the building nearest the rail-trail burned, scorching the paint on a traffic barrier. At first it appeared as if smoke coming from the roof was traveling up a downspout near the corner of the building.
Captain William Rinehart said that because the smoke persisted, the siding was peeled away.
He said the building wasn’t initially evacuated, but was eventually emptied once it was feared fire may be inside the structure.
“The initial call was for a mulch fire. When the manager here at the DMV came out, he noticed this bush was on fire as well. That’s when he called the fire department,” Rinehart said. “When they got here the bush was burned up, but there was still some smoke coming out of here so we exposed the interior here on the corner to track down what was going on.”
Rinehart said he put estimated damages to the building at $5,000.
