Published: August 09, 2009 07:51 pm      

Coal trucks burn in Keystone; 3 firefighters injured

KEYSTONE — Three firefighters were injured, four big coal trucks were destroyed and a fifth truck sustained minor damage in a fire of “suspicious” origin that occurred early Sunday morning in a parking lot behind the former Keystone Hardware, a state official said.

Emergency responders were dispatched at 4:15 a.m., to the scene of the fire on Bridge Street in Keystone, according to Jimmy Gianato, director of the West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. The three injured firefighters included Chief Harold Scott of the Keystone Volunteer Fire Department.

“Chief Scott was getting on a fire truck, missed the step in the darkness, fell forward and injured his face,” Gianato said. “Of the other two injured fire fighters, one was burned on the hand and another was suffering with nausea.” All three firefighters were transported to Bluefield Regional Medical Center.

“I visited with Chief Scott at the hospital (Sunday) morning,” Gianato said. “He appeared to be doing well. All three of the firefighters were treated at the hospital and released.”

Firefighters with the Northfork Volunteer Fire Department joined the Keystone firefighters at the scene. The firefighters set up a containment boom in the Elkhorn Creek to try to catch some of the diesel fuel from the burning trucks.

“The trucking company — Appalachian Trucking — hired Marshall Miller & Associates of Bluefield, Va., to coordinate the clean-up efforts,” Gianato said. “With the total loss of four trucks, the damage to one truck and the cost of the clean-up, the loss estimate is about “$750,000,” Gianato said.

“The state Fire Marshal was on the scene (Sunday), along with inspectors with the Department of Environmental Protection,” Gianato said. “The Fire Marshal should be back (today) as well as crews from Marshall Miller & Associates. Right now, it is being investigated as a suspicious fire. They (the trucking company) had a security guard,” he said.