Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 5, 1993 TAG: 9312050026
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: laurence hammack
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"It's another in the series," said District Chief Bobbie Slayton of the Roanoke Fire Department.
Two of the house fires reported since Nov. 23 have been attributed to accidents: a faulty furnace, and an overturned kerosene heater.
But authorities say the other four - all involving vacant houses or sheds - are being investigated as suspicious.
Saturday's fire at 920 Rorer Ave. S.W. was spotted at 1:19 a.m. by a passing police officer, Slayton said.
When firefighters arrived, flames were coming from the windows on both levels of the two-story frame house. It took firefighters about 15 minutes to bring the blaze under control.
No one was injured, but the building was declared a total loss.
Authorities have determined that the fire started on the first floor of the house, near the stairwell, Slayton said.
Another house burned on the same block of Rorer Avenue on Oct. 12, but that fire is not being linked to the recent series.
Residents in the area are becoming nervous as investigators search through charred rubble for clues. With an average of one fire every other day in the 12-block area, they wonder when and where the next blaze will break out.
"It's too many fires up here," said one resident, who asked not to be identified. "Who wants to live next to something that's always catching on fire?"
Slayton said the fires are being investigated by the fire marshal's office. No one in the office could be reached for comment Saturday.
Since Nov. 23, fires have broken out in the 500 and 100 blocks of 11th Street, the 1000 and 1100 blocks of Patterson Avenue, the 900 block of Rorer Avenue and Richmond Avenue.
The two fires in which arson is not suspected involved occupied buildings. A faulty furnace was blamed for destroying the building that housed Agee Appliance Center and an apartment. A house on 11th Street burned when a kerosene heater was tipped over.
Of the remaining fires, all are considered suspicious, and all involved vacant, older houses or sheds.
by CNB