Published: July 18, 2008 02:06 am            

Quickly under control

Chicago Street house fire labeled suspicious

FAIRMONT — A Thursday morning house fire on Chicago Street was called suspicious by Fairmont Fire Chief Roger Wilson.

The fire tore through the vacant home at about 10 a.m., Wilson said. Firefighters arrived on the scene and quickly brought the blaze under control, he added.

“We had the fire under control in about 15 minutes,” Wilson said.

Wilson said the fire was suspicious in nature because it was a vacant structure. He also pointed out that the house was not hooked up to utilities such as electricity and gas. The building had been vacant for about one year, Wilson said.

“Fires don’t start themselves,” he said.

Mackey Ayersman, assistant West Virginia fire marshal, has been called in to investigate the incident, Wilson said.

This is not the first time Fairmont firefighters have responded to a suspicious fire at a vacant structure in the city. Firefighters recently battled a blaze on Fairmont’s east side that was later deemed to be arson.

Eleven firefighters from Fairmont responded to the scene Thursday. The

firefighters quickly began dousing lingering hot spots throughout the structure once the fire had been extinguished.

Heavy flames and massive amounts of smoke were visible from the outside of the structure when firefighters arrived on the scene, Wilson said. Smoke from the fire could also be clearly seen from as far away as the Central Communications building on State Street, he added.

No firefighters were injured fighting the blaze.

E-mail Paul Fallon at pfallon@timeswv.com.

        

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