Suspicious fires being investigated

Two suspicious fires broke out hours apart at the same West Frederick Street residence Sunday, leaving Gaffney Fire Chief Nathan Ellis and firefighters to spend the night securing the likely crime scene until police investigators had a chance to scour it for evidence in daylight.

The first fire at 510 W. Frederick St. was noticed just before 5 a.m. Sunday while the second fire broke out some time after 9 p.m.

"It didn't really go anywhere," Ellis said of the first suspicious fire, which police said resulted mostly in smoke and heat damage. Ellis said it appeared someone had gained access to the crawl space of the vacant and powerless home and set fire to some wood piled around a support beam.

The second fire occurred at the home in much the same way, Ellis said, except firefighters noticed a chemical smell and they found a bottle of paint thinner near the fire.

To enable police to scour the scene in daylight hours, Ellis said firefighters spent the night keeping the scene secure.

According to Gaffney police, the home is owned by Robert Falcone of Ballenger Road. Unoccupied at the time of the fire, the home was listed for sale with Evelyn Mullis Realty at $29,900.