Janesville house fire considered suspicious
JANESVILLE — A Janesville fire at a home along North River Road remained under investigation Tuesday because it’s suspicious.
“It’s a house with no electricity,” Rock County Sheriff’s Detective Warren Yoerger said. “That makes any fire suspicious when you’ve got no electricity and no known fuel source.”
The fire in the one-story, wood-framed home started at 9:10 p.m. Sunday at 4523 N. River Road, according to the Janesville Fire Department. The home, valued at $54,000, was a total loss.
The cause and origin of the fire remain under investigation, Yoerger said.
Brett Gelbach, 3629 N. Cedar Ridge Court, Janesville, owns the home, according to the fire department. The home was vacant.
Gelbach and a neighbor reported the fire at about the same time, Yoerger said. The home was insured.
When firefighters arrived, they found flames coming from the roof and windows, the fire department reported. The homeowner said “no one had been in the house since Thursday.”
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By GAZETTE STAFF 11/03/11
