The fire that destroyed the old Central Milling Feed Store in Clarkson late Tuesday night is being investigated by the Kentucky State police and Fire Marshal as a possible arson.

“The Clarkson Fire Department arrived on the scene at 11:24 p.m,” said Clarkson Fire Chief Andy Cain, “I immediately called Leitchfield for backup assistance to get help with their ladder truck.”

The building located at 724 West Main in Clarkson was about 85 percent involved in flames when the fire department arrived on the scene, reported Cain.

There is currently no business operating out of the building at the time of the fire and no electricity running to the building.

“We could not find a reason readily available as to the cause of the fire so the state fire Marshal was called and he called the state police,” said Cain. “Together they are investigating the cause.”

“The fire department was familiar with this building,” said Cain. “My parents owned this when it was Central Milling and the fire department has used the warehouse to train. The big free area of a warehouse is different from a residential home in a fire and it easier to get lost in a building like this so we had previously used this building to train incase of a fire like this.”

Cain added, “we have returned to the scene twice to make sure the fire has not rekindled but have not had much trouble with that. We did empty an old grain bin out that had rotten corn and dust but that was really the only place we were concerned.”

Both fire departments cleared the scene after 2 a.m. on Wednesday morning.