VIDEO, GALLERY: Investigator probing Czech Village home fires

UPDATED: An arson investigator will be looking for clues this morning after fire destroyed one house and damaged two others in flood-ravaged Czech Village in Cedar Rapids on Thursday.

No one has been injured in the blaze, which was reported around 5:42 a.m. in the 10 block of 19th Avenue SW, police said. Firefighters remained on the scene at 8 a.m., extinguishing hot spots on the vacant houses.

None of the houses, at 54, 56 and 60 19th Ave. SW, had power or occupancy permits, officials said. The area, which is about a block from the Cedar River, was one of the hardest hit areas in the flood of June 2008.

“It would have to be considered suspicious,” said Greg Buelow, a Fire Department spokesman. “There's nobody that's supposed to be here.”

The single-story house at 56 19th Ave. SW was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. Intense heat forced firefighters to first attack the blaze from across the street, Buelow said.

“They said it was a column of fire,” Buelow said. “The whole house was involved. You could see the shape of the house, but fire was coming out of the windows and doors.”

Crews advanced closer, but were not able to keep it from burning to the ground. It is owned by Joyce A. Hayzlett, according to the City Assessor's Web site.

Flames quickly spread to both of the neighboring houses. Three firefighters used a ladder truck to douse flames on the roof of 60 19th Ave. SW, as the roof bowed.

The owners of the other two structures are Scott and Tia Clark (60 19th Ave. SW) and Huston Enterprises (54 19th Ave. SW), according to the assessor's Web site.

An investigation is continuing.

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