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Abandoned home burned marks 41st arson in Accomack County

Posted at 6:30 PM, Jan 30, 2013
and last updated 2013-01-30 18:30:45-05

A smoldering pile of debris is all that's left of a one-time home as police suspect it's the 41st abandoned structure arson in Accomack County since November last year.

For one neighbor, the home was a landmark.

"It's something everyone is used to seeing. I was looking out today, and cars would go by and they would stop and say, "Oh my gosh," because they've seen it since they were born just about," said Anthony Penczak.

It happened around 12:30 early this morning near the intersection of Drummondtown Road and Chancetown Road. Neighbors say the house collapsed after five minutes of being on fire.

Virginia State Police are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading up to an arrest of the arsonist. They believe that it's the same person setting most of the fires, but say some were done by copycats.

They also say the arsonist lives in Accomack County.

For one neighbor, he says he saw it coming.

"I kind of expected it was going to go eventually because of the way things have gone with the arsons and everything. I figured it was about time," said Greggory Taylor.

It's only a matter of time until the person is caught.

"Your luck is going to run out, that's all I can say. You can't keep going and keep going and not expect to get caught. It's going to happen eventually," Taylor said.

Virginia State Police say they still have to do a fire scene examination, but they are suspecting that it was arson.