Suspicious fire destroys Alice St. home Thursday
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

ATTACKING THE FLAMES: Heat from the rolling fire at 818 Alice made conditions uncomfortable more than 50 yards away as firefighters began pouring on the water. The unoccupied home was completely destroyed. L-N Photo by Shannon Crabtree

An Alice Street home was a bright orange ball of flame early Thursday morning as El Campo firefighters raced to the scene.

Why the blaze - which completely destroyed the small wood-frame home - started is still under investigation.

But fire officials say there were no obvious reasons why the vacant 818 Alice structure should have caught fire. It had no electric, gas or water service.

It's the second odd fire at the site in less than two years.

"We were over at a friend's house when we heard a bunch of crackling," Kobie Washington said.

From where he and Victoria Vasquez were visiting, they couldn't see the Alice Street home.

"I went around the front (of a nearby home) and I seen that that the house was on fire," Washington said. "I hollered out, 'Call 9-1-1. A house is burning.'"

L-N Photo by Shannon Crabtree Another Blaze Beaten It took El Campo volunteer firefighters about a half hour to douse the flames at 818 Alice Street Thursday morning. The fire is considered a possible arson since the home was unoccupied and without power or natural gas.

Other friends soon raced to the area.

The group called for help and then went door-to-door, warning nearby residents.

"I hope nobody was in there," Washington said. Upon learning that the house was vacant, Vasquez added, "I guess it's good that every other home here in the barrio is empty."

Volunteers were dispatched to the fire at 4:25 a.m.

The 17 responding volunteers quickly attacked the blaze, but the home had already been engulfed in flames.

Nothing could be saved.

The property is valued at $3,420, according to figures posted by the Wharton County Central Appraisal District.

El Campo volunteer firefighters fought a blaze at the same house on May 25, 2006.

That time, a fire started in the rear portion of the home.

This time, the blaze appears to have started in front.

In 2006, Fabian Cardoza was renting the home owned by Barbara Luchak, but had been staying at a hotel that night since the electricity and gas had been cut off.

That case was labeled suspicious in nature although the cause was never determined.

And for now, the Thursday morning fire is also a mystery.

Anyone who may have seen anything unusual on Alice Street is urged to call either the police department at 543- 5311 or Crime Stoppers at 543- TIPS.

The city of El Campo has a standing $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and grand jury indictment of an arsonist.