A Sunday fire at the Abbey Hair Styling salon sent two people to the hospital and caused $150,000 in damages to the South State Street building.

    The fire was reported at 11:13 a.m. Oct. 5 by one of the occupants of the two, one-bedroom apartments above the hair salon.

    “They noticed the lights flickering and hearing a crackling sound and discovered smoke on the first floor,” wrote B. Scott Bullock, chief deputy state fire marshal, in a press release.

    A Delaware State Police trooper helped the occupants — a 49-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman — climb out a second floor window and down a ladder to the ground, Bullock said. From there, they were then taken to Bayhealth-Kent General Hospital where they were treated and released for smoke inhalation.

    Bullock said the fire began in the first floor break room of the beauty salon when there was an electrical failure in an extension cord. It has been determined accidental in nature, he said.

    Firefighters from the Camden-Wyoming Fire Company were the first to respond to the blaze, and were assisted by the Magnolia and Dover fire departments.

    Red Cross workers Ann and Lloyd Alexander were at the scene to help make living arrangements for the occupants.

    “We’ll help them with temporary housing to get their life back in order,” Lloyd Alexander said.

    Riley McCallister, whose mother Leona Cravens owns the building, said he arrived only to find the structure an inferno.

    “By the time I got here it was just too far gone,” he said. “Flames were coming out of the far room.”

    Myrtle Stapleford, owner of Abbey Hair Styling, was trying to salvage what was left of her beauty business Monday.

    A few chairs and dryers may have survived but her biggest concern was the collection of Christmas decorations that have delighted travelers passing by for years during the holiday season.

    “We’re going through the Christmas scene to see what we can salvage,” she said. “Everything’s black.”

    In the meantime, Stapleford said she expects to reopen temporarily at Jonathan’s Landing for hair and beauty appointments.

    For more information regarding the business, call Stapleford at 242-3143.

Email Melissa K. Steele at melissa.steele@doverpost.com