UPDATE 4/3/12 @ 4 p.m.
LOGAN, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- An arsonist's actions now has the owner of a downtown Logan building offering a major reward for an arrest.
City of Logan Police tell WSAZ.com that General Insurance will give $25,000 to anyone with information on the fire that burned the old Avis Whitten and Wandlings building.
No one lived in the building at the time of the fire and the building was reported to be abandoned.
The State Fire Marshal's Office has already offered at $2,500 reward that could lead to an arrest.
Investigators suspect this fire could be connected to the arson at the Logan animal shelter back in February.
They're hoping the insurance company's reward will inspire someone with information to come forward.
Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for the latest information.
The fire broke out in the 100-block of Stratton Street about 2 a.m. Wednesday.
State fire officials tell WSAZ.com after a three-day investigation, possible ignitable liquids have been collected from scene and sent to the state lab for testing.
The fire is not believed to be connected to any others at this time.
Anyone with information is asked to call the West Virginia Arson Hotline at 1-800-233-FIRE or 1-800-233-3473.
“It's like maybe we've got a black cloud over us as far as fires," a resident said. "I'd like to think it was an accident, but maybe it wasn't."
And investigators feel pretty sure it wasn't.
“You have a building that's unoccupied and you hear an explosion, passersby see people leaving the building. It's almost a dead giveaway. We smelled gasoline inside and gasoline shouldn't be inside of a commercial structure,” Logan Fire Chief Scott Beckett said.
The call came in about 2 a.m. Wednesday as an explosion. Crews arrived to find flames shooting through the roof of the two-story building. But, Beckett said the layout of the building posed some tricky challenges to fighting the fire.
“All the windows to the second floor and no means of entry, no means of exit. We got men inside, and we had to pull them out,” Beckett said.
The good news is that no businesses were destroyed. The nearby Dollar General sustained some water damage, but it's nothing a shovel and broom can't fix.
“It's sort of depressing. Every time we start to build, something like this happens. It's the third fire we've had in over a year and I think it puts a stigma on the town of Logan,” Logan resident Travis Tomblin said.
"This is heartbreaking,” Logan Mayor Serafino Nolletti said.
The town is in the midst of a major construction project with the building of a state office building. But, as hard it is for folks to see part of the downtown destroyed, the feelings remain upbeat.
“We'll bounce back. We've bounced back from the other fires,” Nolletti said.
Firefighters say they also smelled gasoline inside the building, another reason they consider the fire suspicious.
The fire in the 100-block of Stratton Street was reported about 2 a.m. Wednesday.
Chief Scott Beckett tells WSAZ.com the front of the building was actually blown off when firefighters arrived. And, when they went inside to try and fight the fire -- they smelled gasoline.
Chief Beckett also said that people who were driving by said they saw several people walk out of the building just before they heard the blast.
The Dollar General Store which is located next to the burned structure suffered some water damage.
Beckett says some firefighters got a few scrapes and bruises fighting the fire, but there were not serious injuries.
The State Fire Marshal has been called in to investigate.
Firefighters say this was the fifth fire in the last 30 days in Logan.
Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for the latest information.
The fire started about 2 Wednesday morning.
911 dispatchers could not confirm which businesses were affected, but say it is between B&B Loans and the Dollar General on Stratton Street in Downtown.
Dispatchers say multiple fire crews are on the scene and the fire is now contained but there are still hot spots.
At this time no injuries have been reported.
Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for the latest information.
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