CLENDENIN, W.Va. — Investigators are still trying to determine if a brush fire caused a storage building to burn in Kanawha County Tuesday or if the burning building set the field on fire. The blaze was reported on Hayes Farm Lane near Clendenin Tuesday afternoon.
Firemen responded with a report of a missing person.
“On the dispatch they reported somebody missing,” said Kanawha County Fire Coordinator C.W. Sigman. “When they were fighting the fire, I think one of the firefighters saw him laying over the hill.”
The victim has been identified as Donald Shamblin, 66. He may have died of a heart attack. Relatives indicated he was probably trying to put out the fire. Sigman said while that’s not confirmed, the story made sense.
“This was a nice, well kept piece of property,” said Sigman. “He’s probably one of those type of folks who took care of it and was going to save it.”
The storage building contained a number of tools and some fuel. Sigman said that caused some tense moments for firefighters.
“When the paramedics and firemen rushed over to him to (check) his condition, about that same time a drum of hydraulic oil blew up in the building,” he said. “It was a few scary moments there for them.”
Firemen were able to get out the building fire and the brush fire, containing the damage to about a half acre of ground.