MOTEL FIRE Investigators Rule Vacant Motel Fire Suspicious
Reported by: Kristin Keeling
Web Producer: Michelle Carroll
Also Contributing: Bob Aaron
Reported: May. 25, 2012 10:31 AM EDT
Updated: May. 25, 2012 6:55 PM EDT
EYEWITNESS ONLINE WEBCAST VIDEO C L I C K T O P L A Y
Summersville
, Nicholas County
, West Virginia
Fire breaks out at a motel in Summersville around 3:00 Friday morning and investigators don't think it was an accident.
What was once the Summersville Motor Lodge is now in ruins. And according to investigators, it took an arsonist two attempts to demolish the motel.
More than half of the motel was destroyed. Investigators say someone tried to set the motel on fire once before.
But arson is nothing new to Summersville. The town has 25 unsolved arsons since January.
"With the rise of them that we've had it's taken up a lot of time, taking us away from our jobs, and away from our families. And also with the unexplained fires, we're always worried about a firefighter getting hurt," said Summersville Fire Chief, Rodney Snodgress.
The State Fire Marshal's office is offering a $2,000 reward and the person who owns the building is offering a $5,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest and conviction.
If you can help, call the Arson Hotline at 1-800-233-FIRE.
We're told a fire broke out at the Summersville Motor Lodge sometime this morning.
There were multiple explosions in the building, destroying about 65% of the motel.
We're told this is the third arson attempt on this motel, so investigators are treating it as suspicious.
An escavator will tearing down the motel sometime today.
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Kristin Keeling
