MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Christmas holiday weekend and several days following were one of the busiest times in 2022 for Morgantown Fire Department.
In recently released numbers, the department said it responded to nearly 130 calls for service from Dec. 23-28. Most of those calls connected with the sub-zero temperatures that hit a few days before Christmas.
Early in the storm MFD units responded to high winds that caused arcing wires and transformer fires, downed trees and blew a large trampoline into a Norwood home.
As the temperature began to drop, MFD responded to several calls regarding frozen water lines that had burst, causing varying degrees of flooding. During the height of the increased call volume, MFD assisted Monongalia County volunteer fire units with the rekindling of a fire at a vacant residential structure on Round Bottom Rd.
Firefighters were called out 128 times. Forty-five of the calls were for automatic fire alarms, 40 were for frozen and burst sprinkler lines, and 14 were for domestic water supply lines, one of which was a sewer drain “stack” in a multi-occupant dwelling.
During this time, there was one structure fire in which MFD assisted county units, along with one “smoke scare” that was caused by a pet that had turned on the kitchen stove when it was home alone.