By Liz Beavers
Tribune Managing Editor
WESTERNPORT — When Mike Dawson and Bill Kight walked out of the Moran Coal Company office on Westernport Road early Wednesday morning, something caught their eye two houses over.
“I said, ‘Is that house on fire?’ and then I saw flames blazing out the back window,” Dawson recalls. “I went back inside to call 911 and Bill, who is a retired firefighter, went running over to see if anybody was in the house.”
That is where Kight picks up the story:
“I didn’t know if anybody was home or not. I walked a short ways in the front door, but I couldn’t get any further. There was too much smoke,” he said.
Luckily, Kim Jessie, the only occupant of the one-story single-family dwelling who was home at the time, was out walking her dog when the fire started.
Kight was still there when she returned home, and he says the fire was “going to town” in the back of the house.
“She was crying and saying, ‘That’s my bedroom,’” Kight said of the back room where a faulty electric heater is believed to have caused the 8:42 a.m. blaze.
Potomac Fire Company Chief Tim Dayton said approximately 40 firefighters from Westernport, Piedmont, Bloomington, Lonaconing, Midland, McCoole, Keyser, New Creek and Fountain were involved in fighting the fire,
which resulted in an estimated $30,000 in damages to the home and an additional $30,000 loss in contents.
“It wasn’t a total loss; I would say there is some salvageable stuff, but it will take a lot of fixing up,” Dayton said.
“There was a lot of smoke damage.”
According to the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office, the fire at the 24405 Westernport Rd. residence was ruled accidental.
Kim and Vance Jessie lived in the home, which was owned by Gary Angle.
Dayton said there was a smoke detector present in the home and working.
The Red Cross was assisting the family with accommodations.
