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Woodsfield Warehouse Total Loss After Fire

The cause of a fire that destroyed a small warehouse building last week in Woodsfield is unknown.

A fire ravaged the building owned by Kemp Leasing LLC and leased by AT&T as a garage storage facility. The building was mainly used to store supplies for phone line crews employed by AT&T.

Woodsfield Volunteer Fire Department Chief Mike Young said the department received a call around 3:40 p.m. Friday about a blaze at the facility, located at 47162 Moore Ridge Road.

"It was fully involved when we got there. … The flames were through the roof," he said.

The building was secured when officials arrived on scene, so they were forced to break down the door to gain access in order to ensure no one was inside the structure.

After firefighters ensured the warehouse was clear, the department brought in a contractor with a backhoe to help tear parts of the building down so that firefighters could extinguish the flames, Young said. It took crews about three hours to fully snuff out the fire, he said.

Due to the extent of the damage the structure sustained from the blaze itself and the attempts to extinguish it, a cause is undetermined. Young said potential evidence that may have indicated where the fire started was destroyed in their attempts to halt the flames.

Although a cause is unknown, Young said it is not considered to be a suspicious fire.

"Something happened in that building, we don't know what and we'll probably never know. That's the way it is sometimes," he said. "But there's no suspicion whatsoever."

Young said no injuries were reported. The facility was empty at the time the fire ignited. The warehouse employees were off location at separate job sites, he said.

Young said the 40- by 40-foot facility has been deemed a total loss.

Antioch, Lewisville and Beallsville fire departments, along with the Monroe County Sheriff's Department, assisted the Woodsfield VFD.