Fire marshal unable to determine cause of Greene County processing plant fire

The cause of the fire that destroyed a coal waste processing plant at the Bailey Mine Complex in Greene County cannot be determined because of the extent of the damage to the building.

The State Police Fire Marshal said Thursday that investigators don't know what caused the May 20 fire or where it started because of the building's “instability and partial collapse.” three-story building owned and operated by Omnis Bailey LLC.

The fire marshal said the fire did not appear suspicious and estimated the damage at nearly $1 million.

The contractor used the structure to process coal waste generated by Consol Energy's Bailey Mine in Richhill Township. The amount of chemicals and diesel fuel in and around the building created a difficult fire to fight with plumes of dark smoke billowing from the site. Nearly two dozen fire departments from Greene, Washington and West Virginia counties were called to fight the blaze.

State Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Lauren Camarda said the regulatory agency has been in contact with the company and has not noticed any “off-site environmental impacts” from the 'fire.

“The DEP continues to provide guidance, supervise and monitor the sampling and handling of contaminated media, particularly water used to suppress the fire and precipitation that came into contact with water used to fight the fire. fire, which was collected on site,” Camarda said.