A fire that destroyed two businesses in the village of Gowanda on Tuesday have been ruled arson. The Jamestown Street fire caused an estimated $200,000 worth of damage. P-J photo by Andrew Kuczkowski

GOWANDA — Two businesses in the village of Gowanda that were destroyed by fire Tuesday have been ruled arson.

“When I got there … there was heavy smoke and fire on the corner of the building,” said Gowanda Fire Chief Nick Crassi of the blaze that began at around 6:30 p.m. at 21 Jamestown St. “It had spread up into the rafters and then to the attic part of the building. There’s an apartment upstairs and there’s two businesses downstairs. One is a hair dresser and the other one is Charlie’s Place.”

The fire caused an estimated $200,000 worth of damage and was officially ruled arson Wednesday. However, it’s not the first arson the village has seen in the last year.

On Aug. 21, 2016, two vacant buildings were set ablaze on South Water Street, while the next day on East Main Street, a large garage was burned. The fires at the vacant facilities were ruled an arson, though it was unclear if the garage fire was the result of an arsonist, fire officials said.

On Wednesday, all that remained of the Jamestown Street structure was a black-burnt wall with water still dripping from areas. Scattered debris of siding and building remnants also remained.

“After further investigation, we found that there had been an intentional fire started at the corner of the building where someone had actually used some sort of liquid accelerant and set the bags on fire, so it’s definitely ruled arson,” Crassi added.

The origin of the fire was at the street side corner as it spread upwards to the roof. Crassi noted that the fire took time to put out due to the dry attic in which the fire quickly spread and the difficulty of opening up the building.

Questions arise when it comes to a possible motive. The location of the fire is adjacent to a former Burger King that is now vacant. Despite this, the target was set on a home to some and a workplace for others.

“I don’t know if it’s just mischievous kids that think it’s funny, but we take it very seriously,” Crassi said. “These are our businesses in town and the Mayor (David Smith) expressed a concern to me last night that he wanted to make all efforts to try to catch the culprit of this fire.”

A suspect possibly has been identified, though no charges have been announced.

“Well it’s obviously a loss of business not only for us but for the people that were in here,” said Joe Vogtli, the owner of the building and co-business owner of Gowanda places. “It’s costly. If the business doesn’t have insurance, it’s a big expense for them. The building is completely destroyed. It’s not good because it affects the Business District. A loss of business and a loss of people downtown.”