Crews fight fire at Bedford County Fair office

Aug. 8--BEDFORD -- A state police fire marshal is investigating what caused a blaze that resulted in extensive damage to the Bedford County Fair office Tuesday night.

Gary Cooper, deputy chief at Bedford Fire Department, said crews observed "heavy fire coming out of the front windows" when they arrived at the office, which is located at 108 Telegraph Road.

Firefighters from several departments responded, Cooper said.

"I was thankful for that," he said.

Crews were on scene for several hours, past 3 a.m. Wednesday.

Cooper said the fair office is a cement block building and did not receive any serious structural damage, but the interior has substantial fire, smoke and water damage.

A state police fire marshal was at the scene Wednesday morning to determine a cause for the blaze.

A post on the Bedford County Fair Facebook page says the cause was determined to be electrical and that most of the fire was contained to the back office.

Fair officials are now assessing the damage to the building, historical items housed there, supplies and office inventory.

Jim Edwards, president of the Bedford County Fair board, said volunteers have started cleaning up what remains inside the office.

"The interior is completely gone," he said.

The 146th year of the fair was just a few weeks ago, Edwards pointed out, meaning there were many historical photos, documents and fair board meeting minutes in the office.

"That was a major concern," he said.

So far, fair officials were able to salvage numerous photos and are drying out documents that were affected by water damage.

The fair office will be closed until further notice, but a temporary office will be set up in an existing building at the fairgrounds, Edwards said.

The fair board is still waiting to hear from its insurance company, Edwards said, and from technology partners about whether the office computers, which contain numerous fair records, can be saved.

Jocelyn Brumbaugh is a reporter for the Tribune-Democrat. Follow her on Twitter @JBrumbaughTD.

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