Office of State Fire Marshal, City Fire Staff Determine Origin, Cause of Leeson's Storage Building Blaze
By Jeff Toquinto on March 26, 2025
The cause of a weekend fire that struck a building used by Leeson’s Import Motors for storage has been ruled accidental, Bridgeport Fire Chief Phil Hart said.
A determination officially came following the arrival of members of the West Virginia Fire Marshal’s office on Monday and joined by city fire 
staff and Deputy Chief Greg Pigg. Prior to that, the Bridgeport Fire Department’s own investigation had led them to the same conclusion.
staff and Deputy Chief Greg Pigg. Prior to that, the Bridgeport Fire Department’s own investigation had led them to the same conclusion.
“We pretty well had identified the point of origin and the cause of it. The Fire Marshal went in and did an investigation in the area in question and came to the same conclusion,” said Hart. “The determination is that the fire was accidental and that the cause was electrical.”
The property, situated at 228 West Main Street, has been in the city for decades under various businesses. A call came in Sunday, March 23, at 2:18 p.m. for a “fire alarm investigation.” Upon arrival, fire personnel were greeted with flames and a good portion of the building, which essentially are two buildings connected, fully involved on the first floor.
After several hours, the Bridgeport Fire Department, along with multiple other agencies responding through mutual aid, got the fire under control. The blaze forced the closure of a section of Main Street between Virginia Avenue and Center Street.
Hart said everything on the first floor is destroyed. He said items on the second floor are likely salvageable, but there will almost certainly be a smoke smell attached to anything in the building.
“As for the building, the structure itself, it appears to be stable. I know if it were deemed hazardous there would be no firefighters or Fire Marshal staff going in and would have taken a different approach to investigate,” said Hart.
Hart said while the building is essentially two joined structures, there was “roughly an 8x8 foot opening” connecting the two sections. 
Inside that area, now, are the remnants of what Leeson’s had stored in the building.
Inside that area, now, are the remnants of what Leeson’s had stored in the building.
“There were destroyed motorcycles and four wheelers, including some kids’ four wheelers,” said Hart. “There were a lot of parts for the inventory they put on sale. It looked a lot like ATV parts.”
Hart said with the ruling in place, the property owner deals with the insurance adjustor on a claim. The fire department does not make any decisions on the entirety of a structure, just provide a cause of a fire.
Although no one was seriously injured, Hart said one member of the Bridgeport staff did suffer a knee injury. That individual saw an orthopedic specialist Tuesday. Hart did not believe the injury to be severe but had not heard back on the results of the meeting with the doctor.
Editor’s Note:Top photo shows representatives of the Office State Fire Marshal inside the building Monday. Bottom photo, taken with a zoom lens on a sidewalk across the roadway, shows the damaged equipment inside the structure.
