MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Numerous fires and riots in Sunnyside and Downtown Morgantown were reported Saturday night, Oct. 18, following WVU’s 41-27 football win over Baylor.
According to the Morgantown Police Department, officers responded to Sunnyside at about 10:30 p.m., where people were setting fires and damaging property. Things escalated quickly as crowds moved to the downtown business area.
Brian Jones, a lieutenant with the Morgantown Fire Department, said calls of street fires and other incidents came in waves, with the first around 6:30 p.m., and then second and third waves later on into the evening and night. About 20 Morgantown firefighters, including an extra engine crew of four called out because of the riots, were on duty.
“I know they responded to about 42 calls last night, and they were mainly concentrated in the Sunnyside area,” he said. Of those calls, about 30 were related to rubbish or Dumpster fires, he said.
While he said there were no firefighter injuries that he knew of, there may be some cosmetic damage to fire trucks from rioters throwing items at them…