A pile of rubble and ashes is all that remains of a house on Sixteen School Road outside of Wellsville that first caught fire late Friday night.
"Got it extinguished pretty easily and called back again Saturday morning for a fully involved house," said Matt Greaves with the Highlandtown Fire Department. "The same house fully involved the second time."
They believe the home has been vacant. But while the cause remains under investigation, Highlandtown and Wellsville Township investigators are saying it is suspicious, especially since they have become very familiar in this part of Columbiana County.
Fire crews have responded to the area directly adjacent to the burned down home more than 50 times in the past four months. It's a campground area frequented by ATV riders and some of their campsites sit more than a mile off the main road.
Over the past few months, firefighters would find anywhere from four to eight campers on fire.
"Remote area. Hard to get to. They're being piled up and lit on fire," said Greaves.
This is starting to take its toll on both departments, which are made up entirely of volunteers.
"Resources are severely tied up lately," said Greaves. "It's a constant drain on our area. If we have another emergency in our township, we'll have to get covered by somebody else."
If you have any information, you are asked to call the Highlandtown Fire Department at 330-532-1536, or Wellsville Fire Department at 330-532-1338.
