Suspicious Arson at the Central Hotel
A long-vacant hotel in Sprague is found soaked in coal oil and set ablaze, leading to the arrest of its owner.
The old Central hotel at Sprague, a two-story frame building in the center of the city, which had been vacant for a year and a half, was found in flames Sunday morning. The firemen saved the building and it was found that the furniture and woodwork were saturated with coal oil, many empty cans being scattered about. The proprietor, Thomas Devaunt, a wealthy blacksmith, has been arrested, charged with arson. The building was insured for $4,000.
“The furniture and woodwork were saturated with coal oil, many empty cans being scattered about.”
Insurance fraud remains a common motive in suspicious fires involving vacant historic properties, a persistent risk for small towns facing economic shifts.
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