At approximately 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning, the Shepherdstown Fire Department, along with emergency fire personnel from Berkeley County and Washington County. Md., responded to a call regarding a house fire that occurred at 76 Lynnmouth Lane, near the Bavarian Inn, on Shepherd Grade road in Shepherdstown.

According to Brian Albert, who rents an apartment in the property owned by Charles “Skip” Adkins, he was awakened from his sleep at approximately 2:20 a.m. by a “loud crash” outside of his bedroom.

“I thought someone was breaking into the house,” he said.

Albert said he then observed a “glow” coming from behind a window blind.

He said he then opened the blind to find flames billowing up from an air-conditioning unit outside of the window.

“The whole back side of the house was in flames at this point,” he said.

Both Albert and a second tenant evacuated the property safely together.

“I just ran,” Albert said.

According to Tom Maiden, of Tom Maiden’s Insurance Outfitter’s in Shepherdstown, an initial determination has been made with regard to the fire’s cause for insurance purposes, though the state Fire Marshall has yet to investigate the case.

Maiden said that the air conditioning unit likely exploded, producing flames that traveled up the side of the house before spreading across the roof.

Maiden, who was on site at the residence Thursday morning for an estimate, said that the damage appeared to be too extensive for repairs.

“I think it’s a total loss,” he said.

According to Shepherdstown Fire Department Lieutenant Andrew Tarbell, firefighters worked until nearly 6:30 a.m. to put out the flames.

Property owner Charles “Skip” Adkins was out of the country at the time of the incident and could not be reached for comment.