Arsons take toll on Shore firefighters

ACCOMACK COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) - Long nights of fighting fires on the Eastern Shore are beginning to wear out volunteer firefighters, who often spend 10 or more hours at each scene.

Only 10 On Your Side was on the scene of arson 67 at the old Mallard Restaurant in Onancock on Bayside Road. Six fire crews from neighboring towns showed up to help fight the fully-involved fire that destroyed the historic landmark.

"I never saw anything.  No one going or coming, and never saw anything.  Never saw a suspicious vehicle.  No... this guy is hard to find," property owner Johnny Morrison said.

Crews returned to the old restaurant Thursday night for several hotspots.

Firefighters have become a sleep-deprived, frontline defense against what has become the worst case of unsolved arsons in the state's history.

"People are jittery. I'm jittery. I have had no sleep." Tasley Volunteer Fire Chief Beall said. "I ate dinner Tuesday night, went to bed at 6:30 p.m., I was up at 9:30 p.m.  to come to Whispering Pines for 10 hours. That's my life... it's been several months of hell."

Beall said the fires are not only taking a physical toll.

"It is taking a toll on family life," Beall said. "It is taking a toll on our finances, our personal financial lives...  we couldn't go to work Wednesday and that comes out of somebody's pay check."

The following locations will be accepting donations of hot chocolate, creamer, sugar, coffee cups, water, Gatorade and regular cups:

• Contours Express, 4388 Lankford Highway in Exmore, Va.
• Tangled Salon, 3488 Main St. in Exmore, Va.
• Pocomoke Animal Hospital, 1139 Ocean Highway in Maryland