Published: May 06, 2008 11:52 am      

Firefighter's application for new home withdrawn

CUMBERLAND - An attempt to fund the construction of a new home for a veteran volunteer firefighter through community donations has been placed on the back burner.

A group of residents trying to establish a local chapter of Habitat for Humanity said Monday it pulled an application to Maryland Makeover, an initiative by the Partnership for Housing Foundation, to construct a new home for Donald B. Ware, 35, of Lonaconing, whose Shaft home was destroyed by what has been ruled an accidental fire.

The decision to withdraw the application came after a May 5 special meeting of members of the steering committee, said Shauna McQuade, spokeswoman for the group. She said that Ware and his fiancee, Arlean Huff, and her two sons, Tyler Huff and Lane Sites, did not attend the meeting, which followed Ware's April 25 arrest after fire marshals determined Ware allegedly intentionally set fire to the structure at 12113 Wall St. while he was burning debris nearby.

That incident occurred April 19. The structure originally caught fire in June after Ware said he fell asleep while food was cooking. Investigators estimated damages to be about $150,000. Through donated labor and supplies, the local group hoped to raise $90,000 to build a new home for the family on the site of the current structure.

Ware was charged with 10 crimes, including reckless endangerment to responding firefighters, violation of the state fire prevention code, malicious destruction of property, giving a false statement to a police officer and obstruction of a fire marshal investigation.

Investigators have since announced their intent to reinvestigate their findings on the first fire.

McQuade said the decision to withdraw the application was a "mutual agreement" between Ware, Huff and the steering committee.

"It seemed like we had to come to a solution, and this seemed to be an agreeable one," McQuade said.

McQuade didn't rule out the group helping the family after earning official designation as a local Habitat for Humanity. She said the steering committee was directing the family on how to pursue assistance in addressing its needs but declined to go into details other than saying the family has no official working relationship with the group.

McQuade said the move allows the steering committee to focus on becoming an official habitat chapter. Kathy Miller, also of the steering committee, said the Maryland Makeover project was an effort "to learn how the process worked."

And it is a learning process, McQuade said. Within the last two weeks, committee members received correspondence from the national habitat telling them the group could not yet use the habitat name in promotions or correspondence.

The group has two more steps in the application process before it may receive preliminary approval, McQuade said. First, all steering committee members must complete an online course and mail in certificates. Second, the group needs as many letters of support from the community to endorse the goal of a local habitat. Those letters can be from individuals, business professionals, churches or community groups, she said.

The group is hoping to gain its official designation by the end of the year. Questions about submitting those letters can be addressed to steering committee member Melissa Watson at (240) 727-5830 or by e-mail at melissa.watson@longandfoster.com.

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.