Fire struck the DVape shop located in Maddex Square in Shepherdstown around 6:45 p.m. on the night of Sept. 28. Surrounding shops were virtually unharmed and only sustained minor smoke damage while the vape shop itself suffered major damages as the entire back room of the shop caught fire.
The fire department quickly responded, as the fire station is located directly across from the plaza. The owner of the shop told bystanders that the fire was not caused by any of the vapor or e-cig products, but a faulty electrical box located in the back of the shop.
There were no serious injuries suffered by the employee present at the time of the fire and they were able to exit the building without being harmed. The fire was quickly contained and the rest of the shops in the plaza were relatively unharmed.
According to eyewitness accounts posted on the Shepherdstown Community Facebook page, the nearby T-Mobile store and other shops in the plaza had filled with smoke and smelled of smoke the next day.
A West Virginia assistant fire marshal, George Harms, stated that although the fire is assumed to be an accident, the fire marshal’s office is continuing to investigate what caused the fire.
Approximately 24,000 electrical fires occur each year according to the U.S fire administration. These account for about 6.3% of residential fires.
The plaza returned to business as usual the next day, but the vape shop itself is now closed for the foreseeable future