Parkersburg firefighters enter Ray’s Barber Shop in south Parkersburg after putting out a fire there Thursday morning. The Parkersburg Fire and Police departments are investigating the fire and its connection to an individual believed to have broken into the Shirt Factory. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

PARKERSBURG — Investigators believe a fire and a break-in Thursday morning at two south Parkersburg businesses are related.

Parkersburg Police were notified of a reported break-in at the Shirt Factory on DuPont Road around 8 a.m. Thursday, shortly before the Fire Department was dispatched to a report of smoke coming from Ray’s Barber Shop in the Kroger plaza on Division Street, less than half a mile away.

A male was found inside the Shirt Factory clothing and sporting goods store and taken into custody, Police Chief Matthew Board said. It was determined he needed medical attention “from an unknown circumstance prior to police involvement” and he was taken to WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center, the chief said.

The call for Ray’s Barber Shop came in at 8:05 a.m. and firefighters were on the scene in three minutes, Fire Chief Jason Matthews said. The fire was extinguished in about five minutes, he said.

“The front door appeared … like somebody had kicked it, broken it,” Matthews said, noting there was a hole in the lower section of glass

The Parkersburg Fire Department responded to a fire Thursday morning at Ray’s Barber Shop on Division Street. The Parkersburg Fire and Police departments are investigating the fire and its connection to an individual believed to have broken into the Shirt Factory. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Police Lt. J.M. Stalnaker said it’s believed the incidents are connected to the same suspect, who remained in the hospital Thursday afternoon. Charges are pending, Stalnaker said.

Matthews said the cause of the fire remains under investigation, but it appears to have started around 4:30 a.m. based on video and other evidence.

The fire was contained to a laundry area and above it, Matthews said, though smoke spread throughout the barber shop and adjacent businesses. Some of them remained closed Thursday for cleaning, he said.

There was also heat damage in the barber shop and a water line broke, Matthews said.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.