Officials Investigating Two Fires at the Same House | Video

Rene Thibault | 10/15/2012

Officials are investigating two fires that took place at the same house in Minot over the weekend. At approximately 11:30 Saturday night, Minot fire crews and police were called to a home on 6th Avenue Southwest for a structure fire.

The caller reported that the empty, flood-damaged home next to hers was on fire. Officials arrived and put out the flames. Responding units believed they could smell some type of accelerate at the location, according to Minot PD. Only a small portion of the structure was originally affected. The fire was out by Midnight.

Later that same morning at around 7:00 a.m., the Minot Fire Department was called back because the home was again engulfed in flames. The flames were again put out, but not before the structure was almost completely burnt. Investigators performed a full check, arson may have been the cause, but it’s still early in the investigation.

“I guess it`s hard to say at this point. We can`t rule out that there were embers still smoldering in the rafters or other places, at this point it`s just too early to tell,” said Lt. Jason Sundbakken, a Fire Investigator for Minot PD.

The home belonged to Robert and Kathryn Peterson. They had had plans to sell their flood damaged home back to the city as part of the voluntary buyout program.

Anyone with information pertaining to the case is asked to contact the Minot Police Department at 701-857-0111.

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