‘Suspicious’ blaze guts Oak Grove residence

A late night fire in the Oak Grove community of Whitley County is being investigated as “suspicious” and investigators say the blaze could be the work of an arsonist.
Firefighters from four local volunteer departments responded to a blaze at 465 Little Spruce Creek Road, called in to emergency officials at about 26 minutes after midnight on Monday.
The two-unit, one-floor apartment house was up in flames when firefighters arrived. Woodbine Fire Chief Rick Fore said members from Oak Grove, Woodbine, Three Point and Rockhold departments worked frantically to try to cut off the blaze that started in the leftmost apartment.
“It got up in the attic and just spread,” he said. “We couldn’t cut it off fast enough.”
The structure is owned by Charles Bradley, of Corbin, and Fore said it was vacant at the time of the blaze. No one was injured.
“I got different stories on how long it had been vacant. Anywhere from two weeks to two months,” Fore said.
He called the fire “suspicious” but would not say why.
Fore, along with fire investigator Mike Parks, was on scene Monday morning collecting samples from the remnants of the home to be tested for the presence of accelerants.
Parks would only say the fire is “under investigation.”
Fore said firefighters battled the blaze until 5:06 a.m.