THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 9, 1996 TAG: 9607090226
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 39 lines
A suspicious fire that started in an unfinished home spread to several others early Monday and caused at least $300,000 in damage, fire officials said.
Firefighters sent to the 4600 block of Lodgepole Drive in the Larkspur area found two unfinished homes engulfed in flames. A third home under construction was also burning, but firefighters saved part of it.
Heat from the burning buildings melted or damaged vinyl siding on three occupied homes. No one was hurt.
The blaze was reported around 4:30 a.m. Fire spokesman Chase Sargent said investigators spent Monday afternoon interviewing several neighbors and examining the charred homes. He did not know what caused the blaze.
But neighbors had reported seeing children playing with fireworks in one of the homes over the weekend, Sargent said. Witnesses also told police they saw a group of children near one of the unfinished homes early Monday, about a half hour before the fire started.
Sargent said the fire apparently began in the home at 4608 Lodgepole Drive and spread to the buildings flanking it.
Intense heat from the three burning houses melted the siding on neighboring homes, causing moderate damage. Sargent said the total damage estimate could rise when investigators figure the actual value of the unfinished homes.
Investigators ask anyone with information about the fires to call 427-0000. ILLUSTRATION: MARTIN GRUBE
A Virginia Beach firefighter cordons off the area where three
unfinished houses were burned, and nearby occupied houses were
damaged, by a suspicious early Monday morning fire in the Larkspur
neighborhood.
KEYWORDS: FIRE by CNB