A fire that destroyed an outbuilding and damaged an adjacent residence on Warpath Drive Sunday evening appeared to be "suspicious in nature," 70 West Fire Chief Autumn Carlisle told The Sentinel-Record Monday.
Firefighters from 70 West were dispatched to a structure fire at a residence in the area of Warpath Drive at 5:59 p.m., Carlisle said, and responded with three engines and 12 personnel.
They arrived "to find an outbuilding had caught fire and burned to the ground and quickly spread to an adjacent residence," she said. "The fire must have been burning for a while before the caller noticed it based on the extent of damage to the outbuilding."
Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the fire in the residence that burned a portion of the attic and "a couple of rooms," Carlisle said.
The resident was not home at the time of the fire, but reportedly arrived to find the outbuilding "fully engulfed in fire" and "quickly spreading to the deck and house," she said.
"The fire appeared to be suspicious in nature and was turned over to Garland County Criminal Investigation Division for investigation," Carlisle said, noting sheriff's deputies and LifeNet responded and provided assistance at the scene.
"We can confirm that there was a residential fire at 307 Warpath Drive (Sunday) and it is standard procedure for CID as well as arson investigators to investigate these types of fires until the cause can be determined," Garland County sheriff's Deputy Courtney Kizer, the department's public information officer, told the newspaper Monday.
The local chapter of the American Red Cross also was contacted to provide assistance to the single occupant of the residence, Carlisle said.