'Suspicious' Virginia Avenue School fire investigation comes up short on leads, development set to continue

Petersburg Fire comes up short on leads in 'suspicious' Virginia Avenue blaze

PETERSBURG - An investigation into June's fire at the Virginia Avenue School has stalled after neighborhood canvassing efforts for suspects came up dry. The vacant, historic school building was subject to a second-story fire that damaged some of the interior.

Petersburg Fire Marshal James Reid said that outside help from the Metro Richmond Fire and Arson Task Force. The fire was labeled suspicious after all accidental causes were ruled out. There was no working electricity running to the building when the fire occurred.

"Unless I can determine what caused a fire, it's suspicious," Reid said. "...We've canvassed the neighborhoods several different times in order to try and obtain some sort of lead and we were unable to do that."

The blaze was confined mostly to a second-story room on the school's southeastern corner, believed to be the former library. Some damages spread into the hallway and surrounding rooms.

Just three weeks before the fire, developer PB Petersburg Owner LLC announced a major renovation project for the school. That $25 million investment is slated to turn the long-vacant building into 50 units of affordable housing.

Avram Fechter of PB Petersburg Owners LLC said that his "heart sank" when he heard first heard about the damages to the building but he felt better as time continued.

"It became clear fairly quickly that no one was hurt/killed and that the structural integrity of the building was intact," Fechter said in an email. "I realized it could have been a lot worse and was grateful that it wasn't."

According to Fechter, the fire caused $200,000 in damages, but that no significant structural problems were detected. Those damages have been factored into budgeting for the project.

Investigation into the fire is ongoing. Petersburg Fire and Rescue is asking anyone with leads to contact the Petersburg/Dinwiddie Crime Solvers at (804)861-1212 or P3tips.com.

You can reach Sean Jones at sjones@progress-index.com. Follow him at @SeanJones_PI. Follow The Progress-Index on Twitter at @ProgressIndex.

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