PRICKETTS FORT, W.Va. (AP) -- A fire that destroyed a historic log cabin in Marion County was deliberately set, fire officials said.
Assistant State Fire Marshal Mackey Ayersman said Tuesday's early morning fire at the Jacob Prickett Jr. Log Cabin was started with a liquid accelerant, like diesel fuel or gasoline.
The cabin, set in a meadow near Pricketts Fort State Park, was built in 1781, said Kimberlee Miller, whose family has owned the cabin for most of its life. She said the cabin was part of the park from 1974 through 1979.
Miller said she and her husband, Lee Miller, spotted the fire from their home on state Route 3 and alerted officials.
Kimberlee Miller said the cabin had undergone a great deal of preservation and restoration work. She said the cabin was kept open for visitors during the summer.
Brian Toothman, deputy chief of the Winfield District Volunteer Fire Department, said the fire is suspicious because there were no utilities hooked up to the building.
In December, a reconstructed log building at Pricketts Fort State Park was destroyed by fire that authorities believed was deliberately set. The Pricketts Fort Memorial Foundation had been in the process of converting that building into a new visitor's center.
