MAYBEURY — The West Virginia State Police and the State Fire Marshal’s office are investigating a McDowell County fire where firefighters reported that they were fired on when they arrived at the scene.
Northfork Fire Chief Eric Graham ordered his firefighters to withdraw from the scene of a structure fire on Simmons Mountain Road, a road that intersects with Tony Lane and runs parallel to U.S. Route 52, near the southern town limits of Maybeury. Trooper D.R. Murray of the Welch Detachment, West Virginia State Police responded, investigated the area where firefighters reported the gunshots were coming from. After Murray completed his preliminary investigation, firefighters resumed battling the blaze.
“I don’t think they were trying to hit the firefighters,” Gary Dove, president of the Northfork Volunteer Fire Department board of directors said. “They were probably just trying to scare them off.”
According to Dove, the call in Maybeury Friday morning was the department’s third call in about an eight-hour period. Firefighters assisted a hunter in their service area who was severely injured when he fell as he was getting out of his tree stand. Dove said the firefighters returned to quarters soon after assisting with that call, and between 8 and 9 p.m., received a call about a structure fire in Switchback Bottom.
“The access to Switchback Bottom off of Route 52 has a low clearance and our fire engines can’t take the direct route to get in there,” Dove said. “We had to go on down through Maybeury, go up Powerhouse Hill and through Delta Hollow to get there.
“We had only returned back to the station when we got the call for the second structure fire on Simmons Mountain Road in Maybeury,” Dove said. “When firefighters arrived, someone on the hillside started shooting at them.” Dove added that neither structure had electrical service.
McDowell County 911 dispatched the State Police at 2:15 a.m., according to Sgt. B.S. Burner, assistant detachment commander of the Welch Detachment.
Lawrence Messina, communications director of the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, said that a deputy with the state Fire Marshal’s office joined the state police in the investigation. Messina stated that the state police reported that there were no injuries in the incident.
Messina encouraged anyone with information about the incident to contact the State Police or State Fire Marshal’s office.
— Contact Bill Archer at [email protected]
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