WV fire marshal's office provides update on fatal fire in Martinsburg area

Julie E. Greene, The Herald-Mail
·2 min read

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The two people who died in a Martinsburg-area fire on Monday were a juvenile male and an adult female, according to the West Virginia state fire marshal's office.

Their bodies were sent to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Charleston for autopsies and positive identification, according to an update released Wednesday afternoon by the state office in Charleston.

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The fire occurred in a home at 90 Cottage Road northeast of Martinsburg.

The home was part of The Cottages, according to Bedington Fire Chief Bill Sions. Cottage Road is off of Eagle School Road and east of U.S. 11.

The fire in an apartment building was reported at 12:49 a.m. Monday.

The initial emergency call indicated one or more people were trapped in the home, the state release says.

Firefighters found and evacuated one person, who was given extensive life-saving measures, the release states. But those attempts were unsuccessful.

A second person was found and pronounced dead at the scene, the release states.

State fire marshal investigators, assisted by the Loudoun County, Va., Fire Marshal's Office, determined the fire started in the master bedroom.

The fire remains under investigation.

Firefighters encountered fire in the master bedroom, with some damage to the rest of the home, the release states.

The American Red Cross was notified to help the property manager with possibly relocating other residents in that building because the power and gas were shut off due to the fire, Sions has said.

Firefighters from Bedington, Martinsburg, Hedgesville, Baker Heights and Veterans Affairs Medical Center responded, according to Sions and the state fire marshal's office. The Berkeley County ambulance authority and sheriff's office also responded.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: WV fire marshal's office provides update on fatal fire in Panhandle