Dateline: April 17, 2008

Second structure fire classified 'suspicious' 

A structure fire in north Clarendon early Saturday morning is suspected of being the work of an arsonist.

Volunteer firemen already weary from trying to save a home in west Clarendon were paged to a second blaze at 12:51 a.m. at Front and McClellan streets.

The fire was in an abandoned structure, and City Fire Marshall Kelly termed the fire “suspicious.”

“It’s unoccupied. There are no utilities there. There was no sun shining through a bottle to ignite something. There was no reason for that place to be on fire,” Hill said.

First Assistant Chief Jeremy Powell said 23 firemen and nine units responded to the call and stayed on the scene for more than three hours. His report classifies the cause as arson.

Hill said county equipment was used to collapse the structure to make it easier to contain and control.

Local authorities believe the fire may have been started to either aggravate firemen or to otherwise distract emergency personnel for some reason. An investigation is continuing.

The Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department has also responded to four other calls in the last week. Six firemen and two units responded to a motor vehicle accident on SH 70 North on April 10. There were no injuries.

Clarendon sent four firemen and two units to an accident on I-40 on April 11, but the call was canceled after Groom and McLean responded. The same day a false alarm came in from a structure in the 600 block of W. Fifth.

Seven firemen and two units responded to a single car rollover west of Hedley on April 13. Only minor injuries were reported.