LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Another house in Lexington caught fire on Thursday morning before sunrise, continuing a disturbing, if not alarming, trend. Like many other properties that have burned in recent months, the home on Wanstead Way, which appears to be a total loss, was unoccupied, according to fire officials.
Within the last several months, a home on Lacy Lane, another on Chatham Drive, and four homes on Marlena Lane were badly damaged or destroyed by fire. Three of the houses on Marlena were under construction, and five of the six homes were unoccupied at the time of the blaze.
“Anytime something occurs in a home where there’s remodeling, something like that, it’ll alert us there’s something going on in the home that it’s not in its normal state,” said Battalion Chief Derek Roberts of the Lexington Fire Department. “A lot of times with painting, you might remove a smoke detector or flip a breaker and not know there was a wiring problem, or short (circuit) somewhere,” he added.
But just because one fire erupts inside a vacant home that’s being remodeled or built does not affect how fire officials will proceed with their investigation into any subsequent fires where similar conditions exist.
“Each fire is its own investigation,” Roberts stated.
It’s important to note that these fires could all be purely coincidental or accidental. Chief Roberts said they all remain under investigation.
We do know that “squatting” is an issue with vacant homes, especially during the winter months.
“They’re looking for warmth, whether that’s a blanket or something else. Anytime we have a vacant building, there’s a reason they catch fire so it could be accidental,” Roberts said.
Roberts also noted that if things look somewhat suspicious from one fire to the next, they’ll retrace steps and begin to work on that premise.
“Maybe they’ll connect the dots later, but right now, our only concern is that one house and why there was a fire in that one house,” he noted. “Until our investigators give us a determination, that’s usually what we go with, that the cause is still to be determined,” he continued.
Chief Roberts was also adamant about the department’s policy of treating every house fire as if it were occupied until crews were sure no person or animal was inside.
