A house fire Friday claimed the life of a woman at 10856 Mason-Dixon Highway, near the Wetzel County line.
MECCA 911 received the call at 11:05 a.m. and dispatched the Wadestown Volunteer Fire Department.
Wadestown Assistant Chief Jack Wilson said the house was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived at the scene.
The fire would end up spreading to the nearby garage as well as the wooded hillside directly behind the property.
“We weren’t sure if we had an entrapment, so we were concentrating on the house until we got enough manpower here,” Wilson said. “It was just a matter of the heat from the house flashed over to the garage and caught the hillside.”
All told, eight fire companies from West Virginia and Pennsylvania responded. Along with Wadestown, crews from Cassville, Blacksville, Hundred, Marion County, Brave, Pa., and Mount Morris, Pa. were on the scene, as was the Monongalia County Brush Fire Team and the representatives of the State Fire Marshal’s office.
The victim was not identified. According to information provided at the scene, she was in her early 60s.
The westbound land of Mason-Dixon Highway was shut down until about 5 p.m.
There were no other injuries, though multiple firefighters were treated at the scene due to the heat of the blaze.
Wilson, who’s been with the Wadestown VFD for 35 years, said it’s believed this may be the first fatal fire in the department’s coverage area.
