Flames Destroy Three Vacant N.C. Houses
Source The Fayetteville Observer, N.C. (TNS)
Fire early Tuesday destroyed three unoccupied houses on the market for more than $267,000 each on Rivercliff Road -- the same houses that suspiciously caught fire nearly eight years ago.
Since 2007, at least five houses have burned in this neighborhood off Ramsey Street, at the end of Eastwood Avenue.
The State Bureau of Investigation has been called to the scene, and lawmen appear to be preparing to search through the rubble. No injuries have been reported.
Fayetteville firefighters responded to a call at 4:53 a.m. and initially found two homes burning on Rivercliff Road, which is near the Cape Fear River. They soon discovered that a third house was burning on the inside.
All three houses were unoccupied and listed with asking prices of $267,800 to $328,900, according to records. None of the houses had power, according to firefighters. The three properties -- at 2764, 2779 and 2783 Rivercliff Road -- are owned by Rivercliff Properties Inc., whose registered agent is Robert L. Gore Jr., according to county and state records.
Assistant Fire Chief Richard Bradshaw said it was too early to determine the cause of the fires. He stopped short of calling them suspicious.
"I don't know if I'd call it a coincidence, but I'd put a big question mark in front of it," Bradshaw said.
Neighbors were reluctant to talk to reporters this morning, with some fearing the possibility of an arsonist.
The addresses are 2783, 2779 and 2764 Rivercliff Road. In December 2007, the same houses -- which were unoccupied at the time and either under construction or recently finished -- burned in overnight fires.
In November 2009, two more houses burned on the same block.
No one was ever charged in those cases.
Rivercliff Road forms a small subdivision along the Cape Fear River, next to the Cape Fear River Trail that passes beside the neighborhood entrance and Eastwood Avenue.
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