TEXARKANA -- Fire officials say the city has a suspect in custody in connection with a fire that destroyed a vacant, vintage wood-frame house Sunday morning in the 700 block of Pecan Street.
Texarkana Fire Department Battalion Chief Chad Honea said fire units arrived at the scene around 10 a.m. and battled the blaze for about 45 minutes to an hour before bringing the flames under control.
Honea said witnesses saw a male suspect fleeing from the home as flames began to show.
The Queen Anne Victorian home was built in 1894 by Alvah Horace Whitmarsh, a lumberman and civic leader. The Texarkana chapter of the Junior League was organized at the house and Whitmarsh's daughter, Marguerite Whitmarsh Holman, served as the chapter's first president.
The house was later used as a law office by attorney Jim Davis. It was placed on the National Register of Histopric Places in 1980.
Local resident Misty Jimenez, who owns a nearby historic home on Pecan Street, said the home's owner is currently living in Austin, Texas.
Jimenez said that the owner was hoping that work crews weren't in the process of bulldozing the house because he had some keepsakes inside that he still wanted. However, most of the house was bulldozed by Sunday evening.