Investigators call Monday house fire 'suspicious'
By John Joyce
Published in News on July 8, 2014 1:46 PM
The morning house fire that left a small dog dead and caused traffic to be partially blocked on East Ash Street for more than two hours Monday has been ruled suspicious.
"There were several factors pointing toward it being a set fire," Assistant Fire Chief James Farfour said.
An off-duty Goldsboro firefighter noticed smoke coming from the residence at 2807 E. Ash St. and called the fire in to Wayne County Communications just after 8 a.m.
The fire department arrived within six minutes and Goldsboro police officers were already there -- blocking traffic on East Ash Street, from Ivey Court to Malloy Street.
After extinguishing the fire and determining that nobody had been inside the residence, fire crews began investigating the cause of the fire.
Investigators discovered multiple points of origin, Farfour said.
The homeowner, Cleveland Carlisle Wilkins, 50, responded to the scene when police notified him, according to the fire report.
"The property owner valued the house and property at $50,000. Right now it looks like the loss will be the same value," Farfour said.
Fire investigators from the Goldsboro Police Department were called in to assume the investigation.
"Fire Investigator (Karen) Zwirblia has been assigned to the case and was at the scene all morning with the Goldsboro Fire Department fire investigators," Sgt. Jeremy Sutton said.
No suspects were listed on the police report.