May 5, 1973

Arson suspected in White River fires

       Fire department officials say arson is the suspected cause of two fires that occurred Saturday night in White River Township. In the first, reported to the White River township volunteer fire department at 8:20 p.m., a woman and her two small children escaped injury when flames raced from the back end of their home up into the attic. Mrs. Patricia Sizemore was at home with her two children, Theresa, 7, and Brian, 2, when she discovered a fire in the wall behind the kitchen stove in the rear of the residence, which is located near Stones Crossing, one-half mile west of State Road 135. Simon Sizemore, her husband, was at work at the time. Four trucks with 14 volunteers from the White River department responded to her alarm. They were assisted by two trucks and 13 men from the Bargersville fire department. Firemen were reportedly able to save much of the Sizemore family's furniture by carrying it from the burning home. Damage to the structure, mainly in the ceiling, roof and back end, was estimated at $6,000. Johnson county sheriff's deputies, who were also on the scene, reported observing a person at the Stones Crossing fire who matched the description  of a person later Identified as being present at the second fire, in a vacant home on the Mary Sutton property on Mullinix road ( County Road 600 West), one-half mile south of Smith Valley Road. The second fire was reported to the White River township volunteers at 11:15 p.m. Units responding to the alarm discovered a bed in one room of the empty residence in flames, a chair in another room burning, and an old automobile in a nearby garage burning. The bed fire reportedly left a large hole in the floor of the house before the flames were brought under control. White River township fire department investigators are working on both cases today in order to determine their exact causes. Officials indicated that the possibility of arson is being seriously considered in each fire.              (Reprinted with permission of the Daily Journal)

 

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