The cause of a fire that burned a Joplin home’s garage Tuesday night and damaged a second garage next door remains under investigation by police and fire officials.
The Joplin Fire Department was called at 10:03 p.m. to the home of Belinda Gordon at 510 N. Sergeant Ave. after her daughter looked out a back window and noticed flames coming from their detached garage.
Keith Stammer, the Fire Department’s public information officer, said in a news release that the family of four got out of the home as a precautionary measure before firefighters arrived. Their next-door neighbor at 506 N. Sergeant Ave., Donna Watts, and two other people left her house when they saw the flames from the Gordons’ garage spread to their detached garage, Stammer said.
The fire was declared under control by 10:32 p.m. Cpl. Chuck Niess of the Joplin Police Department said the fire remained under investigation Wednesday as a possible case of arson, although no suspicious people had been noticed in the area.
