During the early morning hours of May 18, there were two structure fires in Columbia that resulted in total losses.
At 2:24 a.m. a call was made by a passerby about a fire at 1310 North Park Ave. Luckily, nobody was in the home as the owner, Bessie Allen, was at her daughter's house.
Albert Mark lives next door to the home, and he said an unknown person banged on his door to tell him the house was on fire.
The first call about the fire came in at 2:05 a.m., but the wrong address was given. The caller told dispatch that the address was at 1400 North Park Ave., which is next door.
The second fire was at 114 West Ave. and was called in at 4:08 a.m. At first, the fire was called in as 608 Owens Street at 4:04 a.m. The house was unoccupied and had no electricity or gas hooked up.
Fire gutted an empty home at 114 West Avenue early during the morning of May 18.
The Mississippi State Fire Marshal and the Columbia Police Department continue to investigate. The Fire Marshal has up to 45 days to issue their report.
No statement has been given about whether arson is suspected. Both houses strikingly have an empty lot area to the right side, are located less than a mile apart and both caught on fire within two hours of each other.
