POSTED AT 12:00 AM ON Aug. 29, 2006 | PRINT | Email | SHARE | COMMENTS (0)

MARTINSVILLE, Ind. -- Investigators ruled arson as the cause of a fire that destroyed the offices of a telecommunications company and knocked out Internet service to its customers in the city.

An investigation involving the state fire marshall's office found that the early Sunday fire was deliberately set and started in multiple places, Assistant Fire Chief Terry Hart said Monday.

The fire, about a block north of the city's downtown square, destroyed the building housing RNet Communications and heavily damaged the neighboring Hite-Finney House, which was built around 1855 and was included on the National Register of Historical Places. No injuries were reported.

Police officers reported the fire about 2:30 a.m. Sunday, and firefighters arrived to find part of the Hite-Finney House in flames, Fire Chief Tim Fraker said.

The fire soon spread to the RNet Communications building, but a 50-foot-tall wireless antenna attached to the roof with three sets of wires prevented firefighters from using an aerial boom to reach the roof, Fraker said.

Fears that the antenna could fall into nearby power lines prompted Duke Energy to shut off electricity to much of the city, located about 25 miles south of Indianapolis, for several hours.