Preserving History: Williamsburg Group Raising Funds to Memorialize Blair County Children's Home

Aug. 2, 1975, began like any summer day in Williamsburg. With morning temperatures in the high 60s, residents were bracing for a day that was expected to reach 95 degrees by mid-afternoon. What they did not know was that one part of town was about to get much hotter.

At around 4 p.m. the quiet of a dog day in summer was shattered by the sound of blaring sirens. The smell of fresh cut grass was overwhelmed by the eye-watering fumes of burning wood while cars driving slowly down High Street were forced to the side of the road by fire engines racing toward the billowing black smoke that was quick...