Earlier this year, the over 100 year-old landmark was destroyed, due to what fire investigators determined was an electrical fire that started late on a Friday evening. Boone commissioners, shocked at the devastation caused there, quickly set out to determine how vulnerable the Boone Courthouse was to fire.
Inspectors from the county, the Madison Volunteer Fire Department, as well as an electrician scoured the courthouse earlier this summer, looking for areas of vulnerability, and made several recommendations for improvement. The most sweeping of these was for commissioners to limit the number of appliances that could be used in the courthouse by employees. The commission soon limited the number of refrigerators, microwaves and coffee makers that could be used in elected officials offices, and prohibited personally owned space heaters.
In addition, the county applied for, and was given a grant for $48,000. The funds, provided by the West Virginia Courthouse Facilities Improvement Authority, will be used for fire suppression equipment. “We will be using the funds to purchase and install new fire alarms and smoke detection gear in the courthouse,” County Commissioner Mickey Brown said.
“We have a lot of precious public documents in the courthouse, and it is the job of the commission to do what is necessary to protect them,” Brown said. The commissioner also pointed out that the commission has raised insurance coverage on the contents of the building from $5,0000,000 to $9,000,000. “This wouldn’t build a brand new courthouse like the one we have now, but it would get us into a new building.”
Brown offered his appreciation to WV CFIA officials Kris Richmond and L.D. Egnor for their help in obtaining the $48,000.
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