PARKERSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA — West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey declared a state of emergency for Wood County after a massive warehouse fire reignited and ripped through the Peoples Cartage facility on Camden Avenue. The raging industrial inferno blanketed the region in a dense, towering plume of black smoke visible from miles away, prompting emergency responses from across the county.

The disaster began unfolding early Sunday morning, July 4, 2026 when a previously contained fire pocket suddenly exposed to air quickly spiraled out of control, overwhelming the building's compromised sprinkler system.

The incident marks the second time fire crews rushed to the complex over the weekend. A smaller, isolated fire involving combustible plastic material was successfully contained by a warehouse sprinkler system on Saturday. However, while workers were attempting to repair the system and monitoring for flare-ups on Sunday morning, hidden embers caught air and rapidly spread through the structure.

As the flames devoured parts of three interconnected warehouse buildings, Wood County Emergency Management issued an urgent shelter-in-place order for nearby residents. Local officials urged people living between Route 50 and Interstate 77 to stay indoors with all doors and windows tightly closed to avoid exposure to the heavy, thick smoke.

"This is going to be a multi-day event. Protecting the people of Wood County and supporting the brave first responders on the scene are our top priorities."— Governor Patrick Morrisey

The incident was quickly classified as an "all-county fire," drawing in every single fire department within Wood County, alongside additional regional backup units from Jackson, Pleasants, Ritchie, and Wirt counties. To slow the spread of the inferno, heavy machinery from local construction crews was brought in to demolish a section of the facility, effectively cutting the warehouse into two separate structures to isolate the fire line.

Miraculously, despite the extreme heat and rapid escalation, personnel inside the building were safely evacuated. Both the facility's CEO and local emergency services confirmed that no injuries to workers or firefighters have been reported.

Given that the burning facilities contained substantial amounts of plastic materials, the resulting smoke has raised intense public concern. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) alongside the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have deployed teams to the scene to conduct continuous air quality monitoring.

Additionally, environmental officials are heavily monitoring potential ecological threats caused by toxic firefighting runoff pouring toward the nearby Little Kanawha River. Authorities reported that while the smoke remains hazardous to people with respiratory conditions, portable air monitors have not yet crossed the threshold required for wider public safety alerts.

A secure perimeter remains active from Elder Street to Murray Lane as emergency crews prepare for a multi-day operation to fully extinguish the smoldering ruins.