Firefighters from three departments spent hours battling a three-alarm fire on College Street that burned two homes to the ground and damaged a third.
Fire officials were waiting on an accelerant-detecting dog to arrive from Scott County at press time to survey the scene for possible signs of arson. Winchester Fire-EMS Maj. Greg Beam said the dog can process the large scene more quickly than firefighters for any possible accelerants.
So far, firefighters don’t know what caused the fire that destroyed homes at 128 and 130 College St.
Winchester Police Officer Mike Keffer reported seeing smoke around College Street and Burns Avenue at 2:32 a.m. today, and requested the fire department, Winchester Police Capt. Harvey Craycraft said.
When firefighters arrived, both homes were already fully engulfed and the fire was burning through the roofs, Beam said.
All of Winchester’s on-duty firefighters responded along with Clark County’s firefighters and an engine company from Lexington Fire Department.
Firefighters from Montgomery County were also called to cover Winchester and Clark County in case anything else happened.
One of the homes, 128 College St., was vacant and in foreclosure, Beam said.
The house at 130 College St. is occupied, but the resident was not home this morning, Beam said.
Both homes were single story structures and were estimated to be about 70 years old, he said.
The heat from the fire also caused some cosmetic damage to a house at 124 College St, he said, but no other damage.
Firefighters were still on scene at press time, but most had been released by 8 a.m.
Contact Fred Petke at fpetke@winchestersun.com.
