By Brandi Makuski

Emergency crews in Plover say they’re investigating two suspicious fires in the past 48 hours.

Firefighters in Plover and Stevens Point were called to Jay-Mar Inc., 2130 Jay Mar Rd., shortly after 1 AM on Aug. 22 after a passing motorist reported the fire from the road.

“When we got on the scene there were flames in the front of the building,” said Fire Chief Mark Deaver. “Stevens Point also responded and we had Hull [Fire] on standby.”

It took crews about 10 minutes to extinguish the fire, Deaver said, adding the building suffered “light smoke damage” inside but there were no injuries. Three cats inside the store were rescued without incident.

Jay-Mar President Tony Grapsas said Thursday morning despite the damage out front, his store was open for business.

“We’re cleaning the smoke out of the air, and we’ll clean the front once it’s been released [by investigators],” Grapsas said, adding it was the quick response from firefighters, along with a well-constructed building, that stopped the fire from spreading faster.

“There are multiple people to be appreciative of,” he said. “Whoever, at 1 o’clock in the morning happened to see this and was a good Samaritan to call it in, that was great.”

A second fire occurred at about 9:30 PM Wed. night in the parking lot of Worzella & Sons, 2801 Hoover Ave., where according to Deaver, a pile of wood pallets caught fire. Firefighters were on the scene for about an hour, Deaver said, and there was no structural damage to the building.

Police Chief Dan Ault said there have been no injuries associated with either fire.

“Obviously we’re still investigating, but I would deem these fires suspicious,” he said.

Ault also advised residents should clean up any loose garbage around their homes and ensure construction materials are disposed of properly.

“Report any suspicious behavior on your property, especially after hours,” he said.

More as we have it.