House fire might have been deliberately set

April 07--A state police fire marshal on Monday said that the fire that destroyed a house a day earlier in Windham Township might have been deliberately set, according to the Windham fire chief.

State Police Fire Marshal Brian Atherholt, who investigated the fire on Monday, said that he could not tell what caused the fire, because the damage was so extensive, according to Windham Fire Chief Daniel Philhower.

The fire started in the southern end of the house, which is located at 9468-9470 Battle Creek Road, Philhower said.

However, "there was nothing in that end of the house to catch fire," Philhower said.

The southern part of the building was basically "an empty space," where there was no furniture or electricity, the fire chief said.

The state police fire marshal "kind of thought that someone might have started it, But he was not real sure yet," Philhower said.

Atherholt is still investigating the fire, and is planning to review his findings with others in the Pennsylvania State Police, Philhower said.

Wilbur Dymond of Towanda, who owned the house, had insurance on the building, and Atherholt said it is possible that the insurance company would conduct its own investigation of how the fire started, according to Philhower.

However, Atherholt believes that, due to the extensive damage, the cause of the fire will be "pretty much undetermined," Philhower said.

If someone started the fire, it would be difficult to prove it, due to the extensive damage, Philhower said.

Dymond had bought the house in November 2014, according to county records.

He was fixing the house up on weekends and would stay in the house on weekends, Philhower said. On weekdays, Dymond remained in Towanda, he said.

Dymond was planning to move into the house full-time in a couple of weeks, Philhower said.

Dymond's two daughters stayed in the Battle Creek Road home with him during at least some of the weekends, Philhower said.

No one was home when the fire broke out, Philhower has said.

The fire was reported at 12:46 p.m. on Sunday.

The Review was unsuccessful in its attempts to reach Atherholt Monday afternoon.

James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or email: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.

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