Officials suspect arson as cause of fire

The historic Saye house went up in flames February 13. Arson is suspected.

A fire that destroyed a historic home here last week is under investigation as a possible arson.

Clarendon Fire Chief Delbert Robertson said the fire was suspicious because it started in the middle of the floor in an upstairs room.

The historic Saye House at the corner of Kearney and Sixth streets is probably a total loss, the fire chief said.

Authorities were alerted to the blaze at approximately 10:30 p.m. last Tuesday, February 13, by local businessman Jeff Howard, who lives across the street to the north. Sheriff Butch Blackburn said Howard’s daughter heard something and alerted her father. He noticed the fire and called the authorities.

The trucks from the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department responded to the blaze. By midnight the top floor of the two-story house was engulfed, and firefighters worked until 4 a.m. to extinguish the fire.

“It got into the upper attic, and there was just no way to get to it,” Robertson said. “The downstairs isn’t hurt except for water damage, but I’m sure it’s pretty much a total loss.”

Texas Fire Marshall Jeff Oldham of Amarillo investigated the scene on Thursday, February 15. Blackburn said Oldham took samples of the floor. Robertson said lab tests will determine if an accelerant was used in the fire.

Stacy G. Seba, a private fire investigator hired by an insurance company, is also looking into the case.

Officials are “99.9 percent sure it’s an arson,” Blackburn said. The investigation was still ongoing as of Monday morning.

The exact age of the house is uncertain, but it was believed to have been built in the early 1900s.

Tommie C. Saye said he thinks his great-grandfather, T.M. Little, bought the home some time in the early 1920s. Little moved here with his family in 1910 and established Little Mercantile, the forerunner of Saye’s western store.

The Saye family occupied the house for more than 60 years with five generations living there over time. Tommie Saye was born in the house in 1927. A neighbor alerted him to the fire Tuesday night.

“We sat in the park and watched it go until about 1:30 in the morning,” he said. “It was history leaving.”

Saye sold the house more than 20 years ago, and it eventually was sold to Clifford Alexander. His family lived there about 20 years.

“We watched our girls grow up there,” said Alexander’s wife Ann. Their family also gathered across the street in City Park as their former home burned.

The Alexanders moved out of the house about three years ago and had reportedly sold it to the family of Larry Wilson.

The house was unoccupied at the time of the fire, Blackburn said.