Firefighters battle massive garage fire near Carmichaels
Mike Jones
One person suffered minor burns in the Wednesday afternoon fire at 404 N. Market St. in in Cumberland Township that destroyed this garage and two vehicles inside.
Mike Jones
Firefighter extinguish a pickup truck that ignited Wednesday afternoon and led to a massive garage fire near Carmichaels.
Mike Jones
Firefighters from Carmichaels-Cumberland, Rices Landing, Nemacolin and Jefferson were called Wednesday afternoon to battle this garage fire at 404 N. Market St. near Carmichaels.
CARMICHAELS – A massive garage fire near Carmichaels sent plumes of thick, black smoke into the air that could be seen from as far away as Waynesburg.
One person suffered minor burns in the Wednesday afternoon fire at 404 N. Market St. in Cumberland Township that destroyed the garage and two vehicles inside.
Brian Hathaway, who owns the property, said he had just finished performing welding work on a friend’s pickup truck and went inside his nearby home to grab a sandwich and let things cool off. But about 20 minutes later, he said, a neighbor came to the door to alert him that the garage was on fire.
Hathaway said he attempted to tow the pickup truck, which was on fire, from inside the garage to save the structure and extinguish the vehicle. But the ceiling of the garage had caught fire and quickly spread. The truck, another vehicle inside and countless tools were destroyed.
Hathway said he usually performed maintenance on vehicles and farm equipment. He did not have insurance on the garage, he said, but was thankful his home just a few feet away was not damaged.
“My buddies get together and work on stuff together,” he said while watching firefighters douse the blaze. “Not anymore.”
Hathaway suffered burns to the back of his neck, but declined treatment from medics at the scene.
Firefighters from Carmichaels-Cumberland, Rices Landing, Nemacolin and Jefferson were called to battle the blaze about 1:15 p.m., Cumberland police Chief Bryan Smith said. Firefighters had the blaze under control in less than an hour, but burning tires around the garage belched thick smoke into the air.
Students at the Carmichaels Area School District, which is less than a quarter-mile from the fire, were not impacted because the smoke wafted away from the campus, said Craig Miller, the school’s police officer.