ST. ALBANS, W.Va. — Fireworks may have caused a Fourth of July evening fire at a home in Kanawha County, according to authorities.
The fire happened at a home in the 200 block on Monterey Drive near St. Albans just before 10: 30 p.m. Tuesday.
Kanawha County Emergency Management Director C.W. Sigman told MetroNews there are reports that the fire started after leftover fireworks were placed in a trash bin. He said the official cause has not been confirmed.
There was no one inside the house at the time of the fire and no one was hurt.
Roger Helmick lives down the street and said he didn’t know anything was wrong until firefighters arrived on scene.
“We were sitting in the back room and we have a little window in our garage there. We say the flashing lights,” he said. “We didn’t see it until the fire trucks started showing up.”
Sigman said the St. Albans Fire Department was the first to respond to the fire. The Lakewood Volunteer Fire Department also assisted.
Helmick said the damage is extensive.
“There was a car on fire right there. The smoke had already burned through the roof. There was an addition with a closed in porch out back,” he said as he looked at the burned down home Wednesday morning while speaking to MetroNews.
The front railings were charred. The roof caved in. A car in the driveway was blackened with broken windows and, most notably, the smell of fire smoke still filled the air.
“Oh, what a shame,” another neighbor said as they passed by the damage Wednesday morning.
The house is considered a total loss.