June 23--Four suspicious, related fires less than a mile from each other damaged a vacant commercial building and several vacant homes in St. Augustine Monday morning.
There were no injuries and no arrests have been reported. Two of the fires have been ruled arson.
St. Johns County Fire Rescue and St. Augustine Fire Department crews began battling the fires just before 3:30 a.m., said Mark Samson, spokesman for the St. Augustine Police Department.
The first fire was reported at 3:26 a.m. in a vacant commercial building at 45 Cordova St. The blaze, which led to a partial collapse of the building, took about 15 minutes to control.
Three minutes after the first report, a second 911 call led firefighters to a blaze at an unoccupied two-story home at 17 Saragossa St. Firefighters needed only a few minutes to extinguish the flames. That fire has been ruled arson, Samson said.
A third fire erupted about 4:45 a.m. in a vacant home at 85 Park Place in Lincolnville. The fire destroyed the home and damaged two other neighboring homes, including one that had been renovated and was for sale, Samson said.
A fourth fire -- and the second to be ruled arson -- was reported about 6 a.m. at 34 Cordova St. by a St. Augustine police officer who saw a burning aerosol can and quickly had the flames extinguished. No damage occurred.
Authorities are looking for possible clues from surveillance cameras in the area of the fires. Samson said the state fire marshal and police detectives are hunting for the culprit or culprits.
"We're working through each one of them," Samson said.
Jim Schoettler: (904) 359-4385
Copyright 2014 - The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville
