Fire rips through a Follansbee home

BROOKE COUNTY, WV---

Crews responded to a house fire in Follansbeen around 3 o'clock Saturday afternoon.

The incident took place at 300 Marquette Avenue in the Park View section of Follansbee.

As of now, officials are not sure what started the blaze, but they are working to pinpoint a cause.

Crews were called to the scene after something inside the home caused some sort of explosion. The force from the explosion blew the front window of the house completely off.

Officials believe the fire started in the garage of the home and then made it way to the main floor.

Chief Larry Rea of the Follansbee Fire Department said, "When we pulled up, it looked like there had already been a backdraft. The front window was blown out. There were heavy flames coming out of the garage and heavy fire on the first floor."

Crews were able to contain that portion of the fire, but continued to work on putting out the fire that made its way to the attic.

Fire officials were forced to cut a hole into the roof to get to the flames.

No one was inside the home at the time, but the residents had apparently just left about two hours before the blaze broke out.

One firefighter suffered a shoulder injury and a neighbor apparently suffered from smoke inhalation.

The house is most likely a total loss.