Arson suspected in blaze

Rocky Mount fire investigators believe a blaze that destroyed a downtown warehouse Saturday likely was started intentionally.

A crew worked Monday to identify a cause and location of the fire that razed the building at 811 S. Church Street, filling much of the city with smoke Saturday morning.

“We’re not ruling it arson yet at this point, but we have a number of red flags with this case,” Fire Chief Keith Harris said, standing outside what remains of the building Monday.

The warehouse was vacant, and the power was shut off to the building, Harris said, eliminating a lot of accidental causes for the blaze. In addition, the property owner said he had been having a hard time keeping people out of the building in recent years.

“Those are red flags, indicating there is a possibility this was a started fire,” Harris said.

Investigators took aerial photos of the building from a lift truck Monday, working to identify a V-shaped burn pattern in the warehouse, a tell-tale sign fire investigators use to identify where fires originate.

“You can see there is a clear V-shaped pattern against the back wall,” Deputy Fire Marshal Weldon Beck said, pointing from the basket of a lift truck. “It’s pretty clear that’s where the fire started.”

That’s the easy part, Beck said. Figuring out who or what started the fire is a different story. Unless someone comes forward with a tip, investigators might never figure out how the fire started, Harris said.

Nobody was injured in the fire, which caused about $26,000 in damage. During the early stages of the operation, officials said, wind conditions and the heavy volume of smoke limited visibility for fire crews.

Firefighters attacked the fire from above, dousing the flames from an aerial ladder. Utility workers assisted in the operation, shutting down power to surrounding buildings until the fire was controlled.

More than 50 emergency personnel and investigators worked the fire until late in the afternoon.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Twin County Crime Stoppers at 252-977-1111 or e-mail crimestoppers@rockymountnc.gov .