Wsaz: 6:19 a.m. Alarm, Injured Teens, and a Kenova Restaurant’s High-Stakes Race to Reopen

At 6: 19 a. m. ET, an alarm in a Kenova restaurant building signaled a crisis that quickly became bigger than property damage. In the hours that followed, wsaz coverage centered on Gino’s of Kenova after a fire in the second story led to multiple Spring Valley baseball players being injured. The owner’s account adds a human dimension to the morning’s chaos: thick smoke, a crawl to reach trapped teens, and a community now measuring recovery in hospital updates and the hope of reopening by the end of the week.

What happened inside the building: new details from the owner

David Hutchinson, who co-owns Gino’s in Kenova with his wife, shared additional information about the fire that damaged the building Sunday morning. Hutchinson said he and his wife live in the home next to the restaurant, placing them immediately adjacent to the emergency as it unfolded.

Hutchinson described the second story of the restaurant as containing vacant apartments and a game room, including a ping pong table. On Saturday night, his 15-year-old son had three friends spending the night above the restaurant. Hutchinson said the teens are members of the Spring Valley baseball team.

When the alarm went off at 6: 19 a. m. ET, Hutchinson said a fire had broken out in the back part of the second story. He said he and his wife left their home next door and went into the building to try to help the kids get out. The smoke, he said, was so thick that they had to crawl on the floor. That detail is central to understanding the severity of conditions inside: the danger was not only the flames but the smoke-filled environment that made basic movement difficult.

Wsaz focus turns to injuries, hospital updates, and what remains unknown

The incident resulted in multiple injuries among the Spring Valley baseball players who were inside. Hutchinson said he and his wife, along with the four teens, went to the hospital. As of Monday evening ET, he said two of his son’s friends remained in the hospital.

Hutchinson said he and his wife are praying for the teens’ full recovery. At the same time, there was no official word on the extent of the injuries of the two teens still hospitalized as of Monday evening. That gap matters: it keeps the public conversation anchored to concern rather than closure, and it leaves families and the broader school community waiting for clarity.

Another critical unknown remains the fire’s origin. Hutchinson said there is no word yet on how the fire started. With the cause not established in the information available, any inference about why the fire began would be premature. For now, the most concrete facts are tied to timing (the 6: 19 a. m. ET alarm) and location (the back part of the second story), alongside the confirmed injuries and hospitalizations.

Damage, recovery, and the push to reopen amid uncertainty

Beyond the injuries, the building and business impacts are significant. Hutchinson said the restaurant sustained extensive water damage. Even so, he said they are hoping to re-open by the end of the week. That hope sets up a difficult balancing act: restoring operations quickly while the community is still processing the human cost of the fire.

In practical terms, the reopening timeline signals both urgency and resilience. Yet it also underscores how incidents like this can ripple through daily life—disrupting a local business, sending multiple people to the hospital, and changing the rhythm of a sports season and a school community. The wsaz details put those ripple effects into a single frame: a family living next door, a second-floor space used for sleepovers, and a fire that turned an ordinary night into a medical emergency by sunrise.

Support network: coaches, classmates, and school leadership respond

Spring Valley baseball head coach Austin Pratt said he has received calls and messages of support from coaches and players across the state. “We appreciate everybody reaching out and keeping them in their thoughts and prayers, ” Pratt said. “Hopefully they get back to full strength and possibly playing at some point this season. ”

Spring Valley Principal John Hayes said the school has reached out to the families of the injured students to see if there is any way they can help. “We miss them, we love them, ” Hayes said. “They should be here at school with their teammates and classmates, they should be at practice and at games. We want to get everybody back. We want to get everybody healthy. ”

These statements highlight a parallel track to the building recovery: the emotional and social recovery of students and teams. Even without official details on the severity of the remaining injuries, the language from the coach and principal emphasizes a return to normal routines—school, practice, games—as a marker of healing. As wsaz coverage has reflected, the story now sits at the intersection of community support, medical uncertainty, and the practical challenge of restoring a damaged business.

What readers should watch next

The next developments will likely revolve around two key areas already identified: the condition of the two teens still in the hospital as of Monday evening ET, and any official determination of how the fire started. In the meantime, Hutchinson’s hope to reopen by the end of the week will be a tangible measure of recovery on the business side, even as the larger community continues to focus on the injured students’ health.

For Kenova, the most pressing question remains straightforward but unanswered: with wsaz noting no word yet on the cause and no official detail on the extent of injuries for those still hospitalized, how quickly can certainty replace anxiety for the families, teammates, and neighbors most affected?