Arson investigators are sifting through clues following a Monday morning fire in
a vacant structure on Listravia Avenue.
Firefighters were called to the
scene at 7:37 and when firefighters arrived they encountered flames coming out
of the upper portion of the two-story structure, according to Morgantown fire
chief Mark Caravosos.
“They made entry to get inside to search the
building,” Caravosos said,” As they progressed through the search the fire took
off, extended up through the attic part of the building and the second floor, it
pushed the firefighters outside and we ended up with a building that came to the
ground.”
As the fire burned through the structure it shot smoke and
embers into the air sparking a brush fire near Trinity Christian School that
further stretched resources on the scene.
“We ended up having a brush
fire up there that consumed 2.5 to 3 acres,” Caravosos said.
For the
seventh time in a year vacant structures have been the site of suspicious fires.
To date, there have been no personal injuries reported. Vacant and neglected
properties become safety concerns in neighborhoods and havens for illegal
activity.
On Listravia Avenue investigators say there is evidence that
people were going in and out of the building that had been condemned.
“When you have absentee landlords who own these properties that don’t
live in the city, or in the state who don’t have local contacts to address
issues with the buildings,” Caravosos said,” That responsibility falls back on
the city and that’s a tough job to do, there are a lot of these buildings in the
area.”
According to Caravosos, firefighters face many unknowns when they
are called to fight a fire in a vacant building.
“The one danger I’m
seeing the most of are the hypodermic needles and evidence of drug use in these
structures,” Caravosos said,” When firefighters enter these buildings they don’t
walk in, they crawl on their hands and knees, crawling into the door getting
down below the smoke and the heat. They’re crawling through hypodermic needles
that are sometimes uncapped.”
In 2019 the city of Morgantown was able to
raze more than 15 vacant structures. But, due to the pandemic many apartments
and homes in the city are sitting vacant currently.
“If anybody has
these types of buildings in their neighborhood and sees people in and out of
them please take the time to call 911 and have the police investigate it,”
Caravosos said.
Information about this fire can be left confidentially
by calling the Morgantown Arson Hotline at 304-284-7486.