A Frenchman’s Bay home was damaged by fire Thursday night, V.I. Fire Service reported, the second house fire on St. Thomas in a 24-hour period. Firefighters battled a house blaze in Anna’s Retreat Wednesday night.
At 10:24 p.m. Thursday, Lima Company received an emergency call to respond to a structural fire at 15-11 Frenchman’s Bay. At 10:27 p.m., both units from Lima Company responded to the scene and found a two-story residential structure fully engulfed in flames, according to the news release issued by Fire Services.
Additional manpower and units from Hotel Company were also dispatched to the scene.
Firefighters battled the blaze for approximately for 27 minutes, extinguishing the fire at 11:04 p.m. Fire personnel then conducted their salvage and overhaul operations of the fire scene.
Contact was also made with the American Red Cross to assist the displaced residents, and with the arson investigation unit to report to the scene.
According to St. Thomas/St. John District Fire Chief Oral Wheatley, the home received fire, smoke and water damage.
The previous evening at approximately the same time, a one-story home in Anna’s Retreat was similarly damaged by fire. The call to 911 came in at 10:49 p.m. Wednesday. That fire, too, caused smoke, fire and water damage to the home, and was extinguished by Lima Company, with assistance from Hotel Company.
Wheatley said arson investigators from the Fire Service are continuing to look into both fires, but have not yet come to a conclusion. He added that the V.I. Police Department has not yet been brought into the investigation.
