by Valerie Verkamp
Landmark reporter

Another in a series of suspicious fires in a Platte City cul-de-sac occurred last week.

At least the third suspicious fire in the past month occurred at 11 Town View Circle in Platte City Thursday, April 5.

The fires at 11 Town View Circle are in addition to multiple fires reported at the house next door, at 7 Town View Circle, last fall.

Carl Mitchell, police chief, said the house fire is suspicious in nature, but the “exact cause is still undetermined and under investigation by the Platte City Police Department, Central Platte Fire District, and the State Fire Marshal.”

While it’s not clear how the fire started, officials can pinpoint where it began.

“The fire appears to have started in the dining room area near the front of the house,” said Mitchell.

According to the Platte City Police Department, two people in the home awoke at approximately 2:47 a.m. to the sound of two smoke alarms going off. The house was full of smoke, and flames in the dining room area of the home were noticeable.

Both occupants had escaped unharmed from the house by the time emergency personnel arrived on the scene.

Central Platte Fire District extinguished the flames, but the single-story brick and wood frame home suffered extensive damage.

The residents at 11 Town View Circle were forced to find temporary shelter.

Police officials told The Landmark that in the month of March, authorities responded to two separate fires at 11 Town View Circle. Those fires, which were reported March 9 and March 11, occurred outside the home, near a tree in the back yard, at the base of an air conditioning unit, and near the back door of the residence.