U.S. Senator Capito Visits Site of Harpers Ferry Fire

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Credit Liz McCormick / Wes
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Harpers Ferry Mayor, Gregory Vaughn shows U.S. Senator, Shelley Moore Capito the fire wreckage in Harpers Ferry.

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito visited Harpers Ferry Thursday to look at the wreckage left by a fire last week.

It’s been one week since a massive fire devastated four historic buildings containing eight shops and two apartments in the commercial district of Harpers Ferry. Harpers Ferry Mayor, Gregory Vaughn said Monday the damage affected nearly half of commercial businesses in the town.

During the week, Vaughn held talks with affected shop owners and with state officials to discuss rebuilding. On Thursday, Vaughn met with U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito to give her a tour of the wreckage.

Capito said during the tour that getting things back to normal would require all hands on deck, but that finding the funds to restore the historic buildings, shouldn’t be too difficult.

“It’s going to be a little bit easier lift, because there’s such intertwined with national resources and treasurers, you know the National Park and all the historic preservation in and around this area,” Capito noted, “And so, you know, we’re gonna work with whatever department we can, make those phone calls, hopefully we can shake some trees.”

The West Virginia Fire Marshal’s office says the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Author: Liz McCormick

Liz is WVPB's Webmaster/Digital Coordinator and Eastern Panhandle Bureau Chief, based in Shepherdstown, WV on Shepherd University's campus. Liz is a native of Charleston, West Virginia. She received a M.A. in Strategic Communication from American University in 2022 and a B.A. in Communication and New Media from Shepherd in 2014. Prior to her role as webmaster, Liz was WVPB's Eastern Panhandle reporter from 2014-2022, the House of Delegates reporter on "The Legislature Today" from 2015-2017, and she covered K-12/higher education from 2020-2022. Liz has also worked as a technical assistant and associate producer on "The Legislature Today."

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