Feb. 07--Two downtown Logan fires were set and police and the State Fire Marshal's Office are currently looking for two people of interest.
Logan Police Chief E.K. Harper said Monday that the State Fire Marshal has been back in Logan to investigate a second fire in less than a week on Stratton Street.
The Sunday fire destroyed the top half of the Logan Animal Hospital, owned by Dr. Chuck Knowles, Harper said. All the animals were unharmed, as the Logan Fire Department extinguished the blaze before it reached the downstairs area where the hospital was located and animals were kept.
The fire came just five days after a blaze destroyed the old Avis, Witten and Wandling Law Office on the 100 Block of Stratton Street.
In both fires, there were explosions, reports said.
"Both fires have been ruled arson," Harper said. "And we are treating the fires as connected because they were so close together in proximity and in time."
Harper said the Logan Police, the Logan Fire Department, the West Virginia State Police and the State Fire Marshal's Office are all working together on the investigation. He said the agencies are investigating every lead.
"We've got people of interest we're looking at," Harper said. "And we will continue checking on leads that we get. We urge anyone with information into the fires to call the arson hotline at 1-800-223-FIRE. All tips can be anonymous and there's a $2,500 reward for information leading to an arrest."
Logan Fire Chief Scott Beckett said even the State Fire Commission was in Logan on Monday to help with the investigation.
Beckett said the Animal Hospital fire wasn't initially called in as a fire, but was called in as an explosion.
"The two fires are eerily similar," Beckett said.
The two fire probes are both criminal investigations, Beckett said.
Logan isn't the only city faced with a string of set fires, according to Beckett.
"Huntington has had several arsons in the last week," Beckett said.
The Logan County Commission also addressed the arson problem at their meeting on Monday.
County Commission President Danny Godby said he hopes the fires stop before someone gets seriously injured or killed.
"Luckily, no human beings have been lost," Godby said. "It seems to me that somebody has a personal vendetta against us here."
Ray Perry, a City of Logan official and a firefighter, said a large task force that includes bloodhounds has been brought in to investigate.
"Every agency around has been brought in to help," Perry said. "We were really fortunate on Sunday morning that no one has been lost. The accelerant, whether it was already there or placed in there, I was standing in the doorway watching it, and as they pushed the fire back, it just came right back on top of the water. The water basically burned as they sprayed it on the fire. It was really hot. We've been really fortunate in all the fires that no one has been hurt."
Harper said the downstairs of the animal hospital suffered only smoke and water damage.
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