RAYLAND - A Sunday morning fire that destroyed two buildings may have been arson, according to a Rayland fire official, as the investigation continues today.
The fire was first reported at 3:44 a.m. Sunday after starting on the second floor of a vacant house on Main Street, according to Rayland Fire Department Lt. Mary Doughty. She said she believes the fire is suspicious because the house has been vacant for the past five or six years, but she is waiting for an official decision from an Ohio Fire Marshal's investigator who was on the scene Sunday.
The initial fire spread to an occupied duplex next door. Both buildings were destroyed, Doughty said. The families in the duplex lost everything but escaped uninjured, according to the lieutenant. She did not have the names of the residents living in the duplex.
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Photo by Joshua Buck
Flames engulf this building on Main Street in Rayland early Sunday, leaving one family homeless. The fire consumed two structures as firefighters dealt with low water pressure from a fire hydrant.
One firefighter, Tammy Morelli of the Tiltonsville Fire Department, was treated at the East Ohio Regional Hospital in Martins Ferry for back and shoulder injuries, but she has since been released. Doughty noted the American Red Cross Jefferson County Chapter was at the scene to assist the two families displaced by the fire. The Rayland and Tiltonsville fire departments will be holding a "boot collection" within the next week to collect donations for the families, Doughty said.
The Rayland Fire Department was assisted by firefighters from Martins Ferry, Dillonvale, Tiltonsville, Brilliant and Mount Pleasant as well as the tanker force from Belmont County.