Photo Credit: Wesley Haines - Cumberland Times News

November 28, 2007 - At 14:05 units were dispatched to Main St in Mt. Savage for a reported structure fire. First units arriving advised of a fully involved house fire located on Cobblestone Rd, just off Main St. The "Working Fire" assignment was then dispatched, bring Engine 16 with other units to the scene. Engine 162 respond and upon arrival was ordered to pull a line to the rear of the house. The 300' line was pulled and firefighter initiated a defensive attack at the rear of the house. The fire was well advanced prior to arrival of first due units, rendering the house unsafe for interior attack. As firefighters worked to bring the fire under control, the roof began to show signs of impending collapse, and firefighters were forced to pull further back. At ground monitor was then set up at the rear of the house with 3" line hand laid approximately 250 feet up a hill from Engine 162. Within minutes of placing the master stream into service, the roof gave way and the entire house collapsed in on it's self. Firefighters were then able to move back in and extinguish the pile of rubble that remained. The fire was determined to be an act of arson after an occupant ignited the fire in an apparent suicide attempt. No firefighter injures were reported an the units cleared the scene at 17:15.

Units responding included: Engine 152, Tanker 15, Squad 15, Ambulance 379 (Mt. Savage), Engine 301, Engine 302, Tanker 30, (Wellersburg, PA), Engine 152 (Corriganville), Engine-Tanker 6 (Ellerslie), Engine-Tanker 14 (Clarysville), Engine 162 (Frostburg), Engine 171 (Shaft), Tanker 18 (Midland), Squad 2 (LaVale), and Ambulance 371 (LaVale Rescue). Chief 15, J.R. Lashely, was the Incident Commander.