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Nine people displaced by fire
Mickey Brown of Pedro, left, and Robert Melvin of Coal Grove rescued seven occupants during an apartment fire that occurred early Tuesday morning above two businesses in the 500 block of Marion Pike in Coal Grove, Ohio.
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COAL GROVE, Ohio -- Nine people were displaced from their residences and two businesses were damaged early Tuesday when a fire broke out in a building in Coal Grove, Ohio.
No one was injured in the blaze, which started shortly after 4 a.m. in a two-story building in the 500 block of Marion Pike. The Corner Diner and Hapney Barber Shop are located on the ground floor of the building and five apartments are on the second floor.
The fire has been ruled an accident by the Ohio State Fire Marshal's Office, spokesman Shane Cartmill said. It originated in an apartment above the diner and likely was started by a candle burning too close to a couch and curtains or the careless disposal of smoking materials, Cartmill said.
"Evidence found in the area of origin could support one of those two things," he said. "There is no evidence of the crime of arson."
Fire damage was contained to the apartment where the blaze started. The other four apartments and the barber shop received smoke damage, but the diner received significant smoke and water damage because it is located below the apartment where the fire started.
The outcome could have been much worse if it were not for some quick thinking by the diner's owner, Mickey Jean Brown, and Robert Melvin, one of the diner's regular customers, said Gary Sherman, fire chief for the Coal Grove Volunteer Fire Department.
Brown was cooking in the diner, which opens at 4 a.m., and Melvin had just walked in when they heard an explosion that sounded like a car wreck, Brown said. She knew it was much worse when she saw a yellow glow from above illuminating her storefront window.
Brown immediately called 911 and handed Melvin two fire extinguishers from the diner's kitchen. Within a few minutes, they woke everyone in the building and moved them to safety before the Coal Grove Volunteer Fire Department arrived. There also were smoke detectors in the building that worked properly, according to the Fire Marshal's Office.
Brown said she's not sure how she maintained her composure when the fire started. In addition to worrying about her diner, Brown's daughter, Tiffany Campbell, lives in one of the apartments on the second floor.
"I guess like any mom would do, I went straight to her apartment and woke her up. We got everyone else out on her side of the building, and (Melvin) got everyone out on the other side," Brown said. "If Bob and I hadn't been here, there's no doubt in my mind that everyone in those apartments would have died."
Brown's relief was mixed with despair Tuesday morning as she walked through her diner of 2 1/2 years. Steady streams of water dripped from the ceiling onto the diner's bar, which Brown noted was custom-made.
"You sink your whole life into something, and it's gone in a matter of minutes," she said. "I'm still in shock. Everything I had was in this business. I'm just glad that nobody was hurt."
The American Red Cross was assisted with finding temporary shelter for displaced residents. One of the residents will be placed in a hotel for a few days, but most had a place to go, said Marilyn Meade, an emergency services specialist with the Central West Virginia Chapter of the American Red Cross.
The Coal Grove Volunteer Fire Department was the first to respond to the scene. The Upper Township Volunteer Fire Department, Ironton Fire Department and Lawrence County's West Tanker Task Force also assisted.
Sherman said there has been a significant water leak in Coal Grove over the past three days that has caused water outages in some areas, but it did not hamper firefighters' work at the scene.
"The fire hydrants we used worked flawlessly," he said.
