UPDATE 9/21/12 @ 2:45 p.m.
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A fire that took 30 firefighters to battle is now being ruled arson.

The fire happened just after 3 p.m. Thursday at an abandoned home in the 800-block of 9th street in Huntington.

Firefighters used a defensive method -- fighting the fire from the outside and containing it from spreading. The home was boarded up on the bottom floor, and protocol does not allow firefighters to enter boarded homes unless it is a life-saving action.

The State Fire Marshal's Office says there are persons of interest in the case.

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The abandon house in the 800-block of 9th Street in Huntington turned into a controlled burn because it was a boarded up structure. Entry by firefighters is not allowed unless it is a life saving situation, according to Deputy Chief Jeffery Earl with the Huntington Fire Department

"We have to fight from the outside, we can't fight from the inside which means we can't attack the fire the way we have been trained to attack it so its purely defensive", Earl said.

The fire started in the rear of the building where two men had been sitting on the porch.

According to Huntington Police, one man fled the scene and the other was questioned and issued a citation for an open container violation.

While fighting the fire one of the fire department's ladder trucks broke down and required a mechanic to come to the scene.

No one was injured.

The fire in the 800-block of 9th Street was reported about 3:20 Thursday afternoon.

The first floor of the house is boarded up. Firefighters are working to keep the fire from spreading to neighboring structures. They are not entering the house to fight the fire.

8th Avenue between 8th Street and 10th Street is closed due to crews fighting the fire.

Fire crews say for drivers to avoid the area.

The home that is on fire sits next door to the former Huntington Fire Alarm building which is now a fire museum.

We have a crew at the scene.

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