The Conroe Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating a Tuesday night house fire that damaged both sides of an older wood frame duplex on San Jacinto Street, according to Fire Marshal Ron Hyde.
“(The duplex call) appears to be a suspicious fire,” Hyde said. “We’re still trying to obtain information.”
The blaze was reported just after 9 p.m. and the first Conroe firefighters to arrive saw heavy smoke. A “box,” which normally includes four engines, a ladder truck and a battalion chief responded to the scene and extinguished the fire.
No civilians or firefighters were injured.
The cause of an earlier call was far more obvious.
Early on Tuesday, CFD responded to a structure fire in on West Davis. Upon arrival, they found several homeless people sleeping inside the vacant building where they’d taken up residence, Hyde said. The source of the smoke was a barrel filled with cardboard boxes that were lit to provide heat on a chilly morning, he said.
Code enforcement responded and placed “posted” notices on the property, after the entrances were sealed.
