May 12, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
A suspicious fire that destroyed a vacant home on South College Street Saturday is under investigation.
The Smithville Volunteer Fire Department was summoned to the house by central dispatch after someone spotted the blaze and reported it.
According to Fire Chief Charlie Parker, the fire was well underway by the time firefighters were alerted and they could not save the home.
“We got the call of a structure fire on South College Street and while we were enroute the police department arrived and found heavy smoke already showing. We made a pretty aggressive attack to start with going through the front door but there was already a lot of fire that had been going on for a while and it really had already penetrated into the second floor and part of it was starting to fall in so we backed up and went defensive on it to try and keep the surrounding structures safe at that point. The fire appeared to have started centrally in the middle part of the home” said Chief Parker.
The department responded with all three fire trucks but used primarily the newest engine and the ladder truck to attack the blaze.
The cause of the fire is undetermined but will be investigated by Smithville Police and possibly the State Fire Marshal’s Office after the fire department learned that no one lived there.
“The house had been used as a rent home but it was vacant and empty. The latest tenants had just moved out a few days ago. I think the owners had it for sale and some new owners were looking at it,” he said
(VIDEO BELOW PROVIDED BY JASON MURPHY)
Although no one was injured, DeKalb EMS was on site to make sure the firefighters didn’t get overheated and stayed hydrated.