BY GWEN ALBERS/MANAGING EDITOR

gwen.albers@tidewaternews.com

 

NEWSOMS—It appears a Sunday fire at Branchville Volunteer Fire Department destroyed a utility fire truck and caused major smoke damage to the building, where the town hall is also housed, said Fire Chief Justin Overby.

The fire is believed to have started in the back of the utility truck, which was filled with garbage from a Saturday Brunswick stew and barbecue fundraiser at the fire station, Overby said.

“We were going to take it the dump, but the dump was closed,” he said.

Overby did not want to discuss the two theories for how the fire may have started until he gets a report from a Virginia State Police investigator, who was at the station on Sunday. The cause appears accidental, he said.

Officials at 9:12 a.m. got the call for smoke coming from behind the building on Route 186.

“When the assistant fire chief got there, he saw the fire was inside the firehouse,” Overby said.

It took about 40 minutes to put out the fire.

It’s not known how long the fire was burning; firefighters left the fundraiser by 9 p.m. Saturday.

The office shared by the fire department and town, bathrooms and rest of the building had major smoke damage. The building is insured. An insurance investigator has yet to determine the cost of the damage.