Oct. 18--WARFIELD, Ky. -- A fire blazed its way through a Martin County house late Friday night and left far more reaching problems for thousands of residents in a four-county area.
According to Greg Alley, Warfield Volunteer Fire Department chief, the fire leveled the non-occupied dwelling in very little time. However, he said, the impact of the fire was widespread, as about 300 feet of a main fiber network cable for Sudden Link Cable was burned.
Residents in Logan, Martin, Mingo and Pike counties who subscribe to various services offered by Sudden Link were without telephone, television and Internet for 12 or more hours. Sudden Link Crews arrived at the fire scene in the early hours Saturday morning and worked into the afternoon to restore services.
Alley, who is also an employee of Sudden Link, said the burned cable carried 165 hair-thin fiber optic lines. This particular line travels through Kermit and Warfield. Farther down, the line branches out to serve businesses and households in the affected areas.
The fire, which occurred just before midnight in the community of Oppy, required a 35 firefighters and four engines to control. Alley said his department was assisted by the Kermit Fire Department. The Inez Fire Department was also called on for mutual aid, however, that request was cancelled.
Alley said the cause of the fire is still under investigation. However, no one lived in the house and the power was pulled two weeks ago when the Warfield VFD responded to a couch fire at the same location. No one was injured in either fire.
