The Cumberland Fire Department reports that a Tuesday afternoon unintended fire in an apartment building on Greene Street resulted in the displacement of five individuals and damage to the one and a half-story structure which was constructed in 1900.
According to Batallion Chief Christ Ratliff, the city fire marshal, all the residents had left the building when municipal firefighters arrived to find smoke emanating from the building before beginning an interior target in a basement apartment.
29 Years Of Service And Mutual Aid Support
According to Ratliff, the fire was started by a stove burner which was left on while the residents left for the day. Thanks to out-of-town guest John Malone, who is a retired assistant chief belonging to the Dixon Fire Department in California with 29 years of service, and mutual aid support from the volunteer fire departments of Ridgeley, Bowling Green, Bedford Road, and Shaft, it took firefighters less than an hour to put out the fire. Ratliff stated that Malone was in town to bike the Great Allegheny Passage and was lodging at a nearby bed and breakfast.
Tenants Were Temporarily Relocated
“Mr. Malone delivered an initial size to Battalion Chief Daron Winters & extended a back-up hand line off Truck 1 that was used by arriving crews,” the spokesperson added. In order to allow utilities to be switched on for occupancy, tenants were temporarily relocated.
According to Ratliff, another contributing element in confining the fire in the three-unit building owned & insured by RVP Cumberland Two, LLC was a ruptured water main. Following an alert from the Allegany County 911 emergency center at 2:58 p.m., ambulance teams from the Allegany County Department of Emergency Services also arrived on the scene.