By Alison McFerrin

The Selma Times-Journal

An early Tuesday morning fire, considered suspicious by investigators, destroyed a vacant Old Town home.

“The origin of the fire was in the rear of the structure, and it is under investigation by the state fire marshals,” Selma Fire Chief Mikes Stokes said.

The two-story wood frame, tin roof house is located at 801 Lauderdale St. Stokes said the owner lives in Martinsburg, W.Va. The house is currently vacant.

Although Stokes would not speculate on the cause of the fire, he said fires under state fire marshal investigation are generally not accidental.

The call came in at 2:12, at firefighters were on the scene for five hours.

“At about 2:18 the roof on the second floor collapsed,” Stokes said.

“It’d been burning a while before we ever got the call.”

Naomi Randolph, who lives across the street, said lots of people came out on the street to watch the firefighters.

“If they had not been good, the whole neighborhood would have caught on fire,” Randolph said.