Officials investigating suspicious house fires

Volunteer firefighters from two different departments battled three separate blazes in a 24-hour period Monday and Tuesday, and officials are zeroing in on one as a possible case of arson.

On Monday afternoon, Three-Point and Woodbine Volunteer Fire Departments responded to a report of a house fire at 256 Willis Road. Woodbine Fire Chief Rick Fore said his department was on scene to assist Three Point Fire Department, and that the home was “fully involved” in fire when they arrived.

“When we got there, the roof had already burned off but part of the walls were still standing,” Fore said. “The biggest problem in that part of the county is water. There are no hydrants, and it’s about a 20-mile haul for us to get water for our tankers.”

Fore said for logistical reasons, firefighters had no choice but to simply contain the blaze and let the home burn to the ground.

The house, owned by Larry Willis, was unoccupied at the time of the fire.

“There was supposedly someone living there, but there was nobody there when we got there and there was no electric on at the place,” Fore said. “We do suspect arson. It’s definitely of a suspicious nature.”
Fore said the single-story home was the in the process of being sold and that the owner and buyers planned to close on the sale Tuesday.

“It was a pretty nice place. They actually had it sold to some other people down the street,” he said. “We just had to let it finish burning. There was really nothing left to save.”
Firefighters spent about two and a half hours on the scene.
Early Tuesday morning, Woodbine firefighters battled a trailer fire at 460 Archer Street, just outside of Corbin.

The blaze was reported at about 6:15 a.m. Fore said firefighters were on the scene within 10 minutes.
The singlewide mobile home is being considered a total loss. Fore said there is heavy fire damage to all parts of the trailer.

Nobody was home at the time of the fire. The occupants were apparently visiting relatives in Harrodsburg until Thanksgiving.

The trailer is owned by Jolene Bell and Roy Rose.

“We really have no idea what caused the fire,” “It looked like the front window was broke out, but I don’t know if someone did that or if it was caused by the fire. I’m just going to have to look at it to see what happened.”

Fore said the fire started in the living room.

Three-Point Fire Department also battled a third blaze at about 1:30 a.m. on Boyd White Road in Canadatown Tuesday. A doublewide trailer was damaged by the fire. No other details were available at press time.