By VERNA BROCK
Last week I left you with a tale of a terrible accident and conflagration. This week I’ll share the story of a North Florida firebug. As far as I know, his identity (they are almost always men, aren’t they?) has never been determined. But he wreaked his havoc across at least three counties that I know of.
Each time he struck, he set an old, conveniently vacant wooden building ablaze.
In Wakulla Station, I know of three fires set by an arsonist. One was the fire that destroyed the closed restaurant, Kojack’s. It was a popular barbecue joint, the second of its name. The first was founded in Tampa by the Fourney family. They set up business in the Edwin Culbreath house, a beautiful home from the early 1900s. Eventually, they closed, and moved back to Tampa for a while. Not long after that, the place went up in flames.
A few years later, “Beep’s” restaurant was torched, not once, but twice. Now it’s known as “Sandy Bottoms” and the current owner continues to live in the attached home, which may have prevented a third time!
Over the years, several abandoned houses in Newport have suffered similar fates, as have any number of places in Leon and Jefferson counties.
I know of one place in Monticello, a beautiful Victorian home. It had undergone a renovation costing over a million dollars, and its new owners were scheduled to move in the morning after a firebug reduced it to ashes. He seized his opportunity to create chaos before it slipped through his fingers, and the mansion became a memory.
I’ve asked law enforcement about these cases. Speculation has it that the firebug has either died or is incarcerated, since it has been at least a decade since the last incident. It is amazing to me that the culprit has never been revealed.
It’s that time of year, when I begin promoting my favorite event, the Woodville Founders Day Festival. Always held on the third Saturday of March, it is free and open to the public. Located at the J. Lewis Hall Recreation and Ball Fields off the Old Woodville Road, it is always a fundraiser for the Woodville Volunteer Fire Department.
There will be a vendor fair, as well as live entertainment, historical reenactors and demonstrations, the Mountain Dew Cloggers, and numerous food trucks. Theater With A Mission will be there giving special performances celebrating our nation’s 250th anniversary.
There truly will be something for everyone, so circle the date on your calendar and come out for a great day!