Arson suspected at childhood home of former President Clinton
Report: Federal investigators looking into suspicious fire at former President Clinton's childhood home in Arkansas.(photo from: Clinton Foundation)
HOPE, Arkansas (KTVU and wires) -- Investigators suspect that a fire at the childhood home of former President Bill Clinton Christmas morning, was deliberately set.
The home in Hope, Arkansas has turned into a museum featuring the nation's 42nd president.
The fire erupted at 3:20 a.m., local time.
Hope Fire Department Chief Dale Glanton said the inferno caused extensive damage to the two-story white-frame house. “There’s just evidence and signs that we do believe it was intentionally set,” Glanton said. “It will be investigated and handled as a potential arson fire.”
Clinton spent the first ten years of his life in the home, which has been designated a National Historic Site: President Bill Clinton's 1st Home Museum. The home belonged to his grandparents. Firefighters say it also sustained heavy smoke and water damage.
The home was decorated in the style of the 1940s and 1950s, when Clinton lived there. It also included a sandbox, resembling one he played in as a young child.
According to the museum's website: Clinton said, “In this house, I learned to walk and talk; I learned to pray; I learned to read; I learned to count from the playing cards my grandparents tacked up on the kitchen windows.”
There is no comment yet from former President Bill Clinton, or his immediate family.
Time Magazine reports federal authorities will investigate.