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Inquiry continuing into arson at Avilla |
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Friday, 28 March 2008 |
An investigation is continuing into the Monday night fire that heavily damaged the historic Avilla Community House in the Avilla community.
Detective Aaron Washington of the Saline County Sheriff’s Office confirmed today that the fire was not an accident.
“It’s definitely arson,” he said, noting that he collected samples of fire debris at the scene and submitted the samples to the state Crime Laboratory for testing.
Washington was not told when to expect the results, he said. “Sometimes it takes a while,” he said.
The detective said he could not determine what type of accelerant may have been used to start the blaze.
“I won’t know what type of substance might have been used until I get a report back from the lab,” he said.
The sheriff’s office does not have any suspects, Washington said. “We just know it was definitely the work of arsons,” he said.
He estimated damage to the building, which is more than 100 years old, to be “at least $20,000 or so.”
The Avilla Extension Homemakers Club, which oversees the care of the building, carried only $2,000 worth of insurance on the community house, Myra Lee Prichett, an officer of the association, said.
West Pulaski Fire Department responded to the fire. Fire Chief Ronnie Wheeler said he had little doubt that arson was involved.
He also said he was surprised that the entire building didn’t burn. That would not have been surprising with a 100-year-old structure, he said.
“The wood is all old and dry,” Wheeler said. “There’s no insulation and no sheetrock ... but somehow it didn’t all burn.”
Firefighters were able to contain the fire damage to the northeast corner of the structure, he said.
Smoke and water damage occurred to some other parts of the building and some historic photographs and paintings hanging on the walls were destroyed, Col. Clifton Pritchett reported.
The Pritchetts were called about the fire shortly before 10 p.m., he said.
The community house served as a school in the community for many years. It closed some time back after the school consolidated with Bryant School District, which continues to own the land. The deed to the building is held by Avilla resident Dick Hoffman and several other residents of the community, Pritchett said.
The historic structure has been used for community events and for a polling site for many years, but activities have dwindled as membership in the Avilla EH Club has decreased, Pritchett said.
Only minimal insurance was carried on the building because so few were left to pay for the costs, he said. An insurance investigator investigated the fire Tuesday and determined that the company will pay the $2,000 coverage the club had on the structure.
That amount, however, will not be enough to restore the community house, he said.
Myra Pritchett and Lucy Murray, president of the EH Club, and other members plan to meet Saturday to decide what action to take regarding the restoration of the structure, Clifton Pritchett said.
In the past when improvements have been made to the building, it has been done largely with volunteer labor, he said.
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