A former lockmaster’s house on Northwest Drive off DuPont Road in Washington, W.Va., burned Saturday night. The fire was deemed suspicious and is being investigated by the West Virginia Fire Marshal’s Office and the Wood County Sheriff’s Department. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

WASHINGTON, W.Va. — Smoke continued to rise Monday from a structure that housed lockmasters and their families for roughly 50 years and was gutted by fire over the weekend.

The Washington Bottom, Blennerhassett and Lubeck volunteer fire departments responded to the blaze at 556 Northwest Drive after it was reported around 9:36 p.m. Saturday, said Washington Bottom Fire Chief Garry Freed.

“It was absolutely suspicious in nature,” Freed said, noting no utilities were in use at the house which has been vacant for about a decade.

The West Virginia State Fire Marshal’s Office and Wood County Sheriff’s Department are investigating, according to a post on the Washington Bottom fire department’s Facebook page.

Freed was the first firefighter on the scene and found flames concentrated in the upper floor, the post said. With no fire hydrant in close proximity, water had to be drafted from the nearby Ohio River.

Smoke continued to rise from a former lockmaster’s house on Northwest Drive in Washington, W.Va., Monday after it burned over the weekend. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

It took about three hours to get the fire under control and clear the scene, Freed said. One firefighter from Blennerhassett sustained a knee injury.

Firefighters continued to monitor the site and returned a couple of times Sunday to douse flames that had rekindled. Freed said he didn’t declare it out until 6 p.m. Sunday, although he expects more smoke to be seen in the days ahead.

“It’s going to continue to do that because it’s not safe to go in,” he said.

A fire department post on Sunday warned that the structure contains falling debris, nails, jagged edges and a basement “full of water” and “the possibility of wall and chimney collapse at any time.” It warned people not to go beyond the caution tape placed by the sheriff’s department.

An investigator from the state Fire Marshal’s office was expected at the property Monday afternoon. The fire department post encouraged anyone with information about the fire to contact the fire marshal’s tip line at 1-800-233-3473, the sheriff’s department at 304-424-1834 or the Washington Bottom fire department at 304-861-0145.

The interior of a former lockmaster’s house in Washington, W.Va., was too dangerous for firefighters to enter, Washington Bottom Fire Chief Garry Freed said. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

The structure is next to another house, beside which is a small cemetery for which Wood County Historical Society President Bob Enoch has been caring for the last couple of years. Enoch said both structures served as lockmaster houses and have been vacant for quite a while.

“They have been vandalized and have been a real problem for years now,” he said.

Enoch said he wouldn’t be surprised if both houses were torn down soon.

“It’s a shame. They were beautiful houses,” he said. “(It’s) unfortunate. But in this case, it’s probably for the better.”

Freed said it was initially believed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers owned the structures but it was later determined they were given to the state of West Virginia in 1973.

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