A Washington C.H. man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly misleading authorities in regards to a suspicious house fire on Delaware Street.
Just before 7 p.m. Wednesday, the Washington Fire Department (WFD) and Washington Police Department (WPD) responded to the fire at 1115 Delaware St. According to WFD Fire Chief Tim Downing, mutual aide was requested from Bloomingburg due to the amount of smoke coming from the property. Fayette County EMS was also on-scene.
The fire turned out to be minimal and was at the exterior of the home. It mostly caused damage to the siding as well as a pile of combustible material that may have been trash. The fire did not extend into the home and took approximately 10 minutes to extinguish.
At a later time, police officers were requested to come back to the scene due to it being suspicious, according to WPD reports. Downing advised that he was contacted by several neighbors who said they believed Ted J. Shepherd, 55, of 626 Eastern Ave., knew something about the fire.
Contact was made with Shepherd, who reportedly told several different stories to officers and Downing that did not make sense. Shepherd was arrested and charged with obstructing official business, a second-degree misdemeanor.
As for the fire, Downing said the firefighters did a great job.
“They planned ahead, they contacted Bloomingburg for assistance. They were forecasting a larger incident based on the smoke and fire conditions they saw, not knowing if it was in-house or in-back. With fires it’s hard to tell,” said Downing. “In today’s materials, there’s a lot of plastics and so forth that we use now in our siding and trashcans, and they put off a lot of thick, black smoke.”
The home was vacant at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported, according to Downing.
“(The firefighters) did a fantastic job of maintaining the scene, ensuring that the scene was left intact to be investigated,” said Downing.
