Fires investigated as possible arson

Two house fires within a week of each other in Corning are being investigated for arson, said Corning Fire Chief Martin Spannaus.

Firefighters responded at 11:30 p.m. Thursday to 1315 Yolo St., where they found the back porch of an abandoned house to be fully engulfed in flames, and the fire spreading to the interior of the structure. "The old house had no electricity going to it and we found no visible means of ignition," Spannaus said. "We are investigating it as possible arson."

Total damage to the house and contents was reported to be $50,000.

No one has lived in the house for a long time, and it was recently purchased by John Patterson.

It appears the fire started on the back porch, where most of the damage occurred.

The fire came five days after another suspicious incident.

Spannaus said that fire occurred at 1509 Butte St., on Jan. 28, and while investigated as a possible arson fire, the report came back as "undetermined cause."

That fire started on the front porch, and spread to the interior of the home, causing $65,000 in damage.

"I find the correlation between these two fires to be very suspicious in nature," Spannaus said.

There are several similarities to the fires.

The Butte Street home is located next door to the city's former fire chief Bob Pryatel, and the Yolo Street home is owned by a volunteer firefighter. Both structures were unoccupied at the time of the fires, both fires started on the structures' porches, and both fires started at night.

The owner of the Butte Street home lives in the Bay Area and used it as a second residence, but hadn't been to the house in quite awhile.

Spannaus said the Yolo Street fire was called in by "someone walking down the alley behind the house," but he didn't know the identity of the caller.