January 26, 2001

PRESS RELEASE

To: Newsroom

For Immediate Release

Contact: Brian A. Crawford, Public Information Officer

Phone: 673-6652, cell: 455-2609, page: 675-2137

Allendale Home Burns for Second Time in Three Months

As the call of a house fire rang out from the downtown Central Fire Station speaker this morning at 10:57 a.m., firefighters thought the address sounded familiar. Minutes later as they pulled up to the blazing home at 1109 Pierre Avenue, they knew their thoughts were right. For the second time in just under three months fire crews found themselves battling a fire at the same address, only this time the structure was vacant.

On November 8, 2000, just before 1:00 p.m., Shreveport fire crews were called to the home of 29-year-old Billy Moore, when he noticed the gas space heater in his front bedroom had caught fire. Mr. Moore told fire officials that he was in the back of the house talking on the telephone when he noticed smoke coming from the front room. As he moved toward the front of the house to investigate, Moore said smoke and flames were already engulfing the heater and traveling along the rug in the room. Fire investigators listed the cause of that fire as accidental.

Today’s fire took firefighters a little over 10-minutes to extinguish, officials listing it under control at 11:09 a.m. Fire and smoke damage was extensive throughout the entire structure. However, because of the previous fire damage it was initially difficult to determine the extent of the new damage. It appears to fire department investigators that this most recent fire is the act of arson. No firefighter or civilian injuries were reported.

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