Dryer fire doused at Donegal truck stop
Dawn Jeane, operator of the truck stop off Interstate 70 in Donegal Township, praised first responders and “good Samaritans” for minimizing damage from a dryer fire at the complex Thursday afternoon.
“All of the units that responded did an amazing job, along with the good Samaritans,” she said. The latter group, she elaborated, “all ran upstairs. We had 10 to 12 extinguishers on hand, and they fought the fire till the fire departments got here.”
Jeane said the blaze broke out at about 2 p.m. and was contained within the second-floor maid’s closet in less than a half-hour. “There seems to be minimal damage,” she added, while standing outside Hopewell Diner, one of two businesses operating on the site just outside Claysville. The other is a pizza shop that opened two weeks ago.
Frank Brownlee, president of Brownlee Trucking, owns the property at 24 Donegal Ave. Fuel pumps, an ice cream parlor and hotel rooms are planned for the site.
Claysville was the first fire department to respond and was assisted by units from South Franklin Township and West Alexander and Taylorstown.
The small blaze displaced about a half-dozen diners and ended the workday for about 10 employees, Jeane said. Then she breezily added, “We’ll be open for business tomorrow.