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FIRE DESTROYS ABANDONED STRUCTURE

April 3, 2001 — St. Thomas firefighters worked tirelessly Monday night to contain and extinguish a fire that erupted at 9:30 p.m. in an abandoned structure in Anna's Fancy.
The blaze quickly spread through the remnants of a house and piles of debris, sending acrid black smoke into the night sky over downtown Charlotte Amalie.
Firefighters from the downtown and Tutu fire stations poured water onto the fire as orange flames darted from between the piles of debris.
Fire trucks, pumpers and water trucks lined the streets to the east and west of the property as firemen and other volunteers hauled hoses to the fire, through the narrow walkways filled with old corrugated galvanized sheeting, masonry chunks and wood piles.
For an hour and a half after the fire started, firefighters poked around the debris, wetting down hot spots and preventing the blaze from spreading to nearby properties. The smell of burned pine wood, common in the construction of older homes in the Virgin Islands, filled the air for hours after the fire was extinguished.
At the scene, Fire Chief Merwin Potter said the cause is under investigation, though many persons suggested Monday night that the blaze was caused by squatters who occupied the area.
"The guys had to struggle getting in here," Potter said. "The fire is deep inside the debris and it is taking time to extinguish all the hot spots we are finding."
The lot where the fire erupted sits to the northwest of the popular Fireman's Bar and adjacent to Western Cemetery No. One and the Innovative Telephone central office. Halvor Hart, who lives next door to the lot, said the destroyed structure was actually an old mausoleum that was in a state of disrepair. He said squatters had occupied the area in the past.

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