LOGAN, W.Va. — A fatal fire is under investigation in Logan County. It happened around 6 a.m. Sunday on S Joe Alley just outside the Logan city limits.
The victim was identified Monday as Mary Bryant, 57.
Logan Fire Chief Scott Beckett said when they got to the scene, smoke and flames were showing. A neighbor had tried to get into the house but only got as far as the front door. Beckett said his fire fighters had no clue anyone was at home at the time.
“We didn’t have any reports of entrapment at the time of the call,” according to Beckett.
It didn’t take firefighters long to discover there was someone inside.
“We had a lot of fire showing. The guys went in and made a really good knock down. We had a find shortly after the first knock down, initial knock down, of the structure,” said Beckett.
The Logan County Sheriff’s Department, West Virginia State Police and state Fire Marshal’s Office were called to the scene. An initial investigation of the structure did not find anything suspicious. However, Beckett said they did find something troubling.
“We did not find any smoke detectors in the structure,” stressed Beckett. “That’s going to be a factor, I’m sure, in the victim not being able to get out.”
The chief said even if they had known someone was inside on their way to the fire, they most likely would not have been able to save the victim.
“It looked like it was a long burn, from what I saw. You had heavy, heavy damage in the middle of the structure.”
Beckett said this is a perfect example of why it is so important to have smoke detectors in your home and to make sure they’re in working order.
Bryant’s body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.