Fire Breaks Out at West Virginia Cement Plant

Fire crews from several municipalities responded to a fire at the Argos Cement Co. plant in Martinsburg, WV last Sunday evening after receiving a 911 call for a possible explosion at the site, several local news organizations reported.

Emergency personnel from Martinsburg and seven other fire departments made their way to the S. Queen street facility after the incident was reported at about 3:51 p.m., officials from Berkeley County Central Dispatch told the Martinsburg Journal-News. 

Several people in the area of the plant told media or wrote on social media that they heard an explosion near the Argos Cement plant. Officials would not confirm to local media whether or not an explosion took place at the site.

The fire burned for about two hours until it was extinguished by firefighters at the scene, coverage by local television news station WDVM said. No injuries were documented during the incident.  

A cause of the fire has not yet been determined. Firefighters remained on scene until about 8 p.m.

Hagerstown, MD-based Herald-Mail Media reported that the plant was formerly owned by Capitol Cement  and has a capacity of 2 million mt/yr. 

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