MARTINSBURG — A family of four, two adults and two children, escaped without injury when their mobile home caught fire just after 2 a.m. Sunday.
The home of Deborah Banks and her family, at 1630 1/2 Martinsburg Road, south of Martinsburg near Purity Road, was mostly destroyed but the family was able to escape. Bladensburg Fire Capt. Dan Rice said the source of the fire was a wood-burning stove. The stove was at one end of the 14-by-55-foot home away from the bedrooms at the other end. The mobile home burned so quickly fire personnel were only able to save about 20 feet of the structure. They were able to knock down the fire in 10 minutes. They stayed on the scene about two hours to be sure the fire did not rekindle.
Mutual aid was requested from the Utica Fire Department to provide a water tanker. The department fought the fire in low 20-degree temperatures without a problem. Although, Rice said cleanup was a problem with water freezing in hoses.
