Fire at a Victorian-style house at 13th and Loomis gutted a century-old Winfield home Sunday and caused damage in excess of $350,000, fire marshal Alan Stoll this morning. No one was home at the time and no injuries were reported.
Firefighters arrived at 1306 Loomis just after 4 a.m and spent several hours extinguishing the flames and smoldering materials. Around 9 a.m., fire crews responded to a second fire at a garage about a block away from the first scene.
The second blaze ? a smaller, minor fire ? was ruled an arson, Stoll said, and a suspect has been taken into custody. The person’s name has yet to be released but investigators said the person was in their early or mid 20s.
Though the two fires occurred in proximity to one another, no connection has been made. The fire on Loomis does not appear to be arson.
"I don’t think the two (fires) have anything in common," Stoll said. "But I’m keeping an open mind and we’re just going to see what the fire (on Loomis) tells us when we look at it."
The owners of the Victorian home were identified as Gene Rising and his wife, Anne Rising. The couple have been in Florida since December and have been notified of the incident.
Word of the Sunday-morning fire spread quickly and by noon a steady stream of passers-by were driving along the street slowly and observing the charred remains of the home.
Stoll said the home of a style, balloon frame, that burned quickly once the fire broke out. It’s not yet clear in which area of the home the fire started.
There was a considerable amount of antiques in the 3,000 square-foot home, which county records show was built in 1885 and remodeled in 1990. Stoll estimated damage at $350,000 to $400,000.
No cause has been determined.
The location of the home is shown on an interactive Google map below:
