Blaze in house suspicious, fire captain says

YOUNGSTOWN -- All but one of the city's 12 firetrucks and the 36 firefighters on duty battled a suspicious blaze that caused "very extensive damage" to a 114-year-old house, a fire captain said.
Firefighters received the call about a fire at 1660 Volney Road on the city's southwest side at 2:37 p.m. Wednesday, and it took nearly three hours to extinguish, said fire Capt. Rich Russo. No injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire isn't determined, but it is being considered suspicious because all of the house's utilities were shut off, Russo said. The fire started in the upper-floor bathroom of the two-story structure, and flames shot through the roof.
There was a gas odor in the basement, but damage to the basement was relatively minimal, Russo said.
The house was vacant for the past few months, but it was well-maintained, he added.
The 4,448-square-foot house is owned by a Naples, Fla., man, but Russo said the owner's nephew was taking care of it. Arthur E. Menaldi purchased the house for 149,900 on Feb. 9, 2006, according to the Mahoning County auditor's Web site.