Third house this week Friday fire may be accidental

Authorities say a fireplace caused the fire Friday morning inside a Second Street home, the third house fire they have responded to this week.

Poplar Bluff firefighters were called to 336 N. Second St. at 11:30 a.m., according to Chief Ralph Stucker.

When the first truck arrived, Stucker said, firefighters found “quite a bit of fire right inside the front door.

“It extended to the rooms adjacent to that living room area.”

The fire, Stucker said, also penetrated the ceiling and got into the “attic area just a little bit.”

Firefighters were able to pull down some of the ceiling above the living room, Stucker said.

In addition, he said, firefighters found a set of stairs to access the attic.

“A crew checked it, and (the fire) looked isolated over the top of the living room area,” Stucker said.

The occupant reported “he left prior to the fire,” Stucker said. “He said he had put some green wood in the fireplace.”

The cause of the fire was investigated by the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

“Right now, we’re thinking it accidentally started in the fireplace,” Stucker said, “Everything we’re seeing is consistent with that.”

Friday’s fire was the third investigated by the State Fire Marshal’s Office this week.

An unoccupied house at 1408 Grove St. burned Wednesday.

“It looked like (the fire) was set at the end of the hallway” and cut a path toward the oxygen source, a side door to the home, Stucker said.

That door was the only one not covered by plywood. Plywood also covered all the home’s windows.

The day before, firefighters responded to a fire at 509 Arthur St. It too was unoccupied.

The house was fully involved upon the fire department’s arrival, and the cause of the fire is unknown due to the amount of damage caused by the fire, Stucker said.

The investigation into the Grove Street fire is ongoing. No suspect(s) have been identified at this time.