Texarkana, Texas, Fire Department Investigators believe that a small fire started early Wednesday in the Harrell Building may have been started by a homeless person.
"It was probably started by someone trying to stay warm," said Fire Marshal Chris Black. "We don't believe anyone was trying to burn the building down," Black said.
Both Texas-side and Arkansas-side Firefighters responded to a call shortly after 8 a.m. Wednesday at the building at 317 N. State Line Ave., and extinguished a small fire burning on the wooden floor of the building's first story. The fire was quickly brought under control and damage was not too serious, Black said.
Black said firefighters cut a hole in the floor so fire would not spread to the basement.
The building, originally known as the Rialto, was built in 1902 and was one of the city's first solid brick buildings and one of the first to have electricity, according to local historian Beverly Rowe. It was renamed the Medical Arts Building in the 1930s and the Harrell Building in the 1980s.