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Blaze destroys historic home in Visalia  

The historic home of beloved Visalia educator Veva Blunt and an adjacent mobile home burned down Sunday afternoon, a burning cigarette butt the cause, witnesses and firefighters reported.

Visalia Fire Department firefighters responded around 2:30 p.m. to the 17-acre property on the 2700 block of North Demaree Street in Visalia and were successful in keeping the fire from spreading to nearby residences in the rural northwest Visalia setting.

Still, the mobile home and the aging 1,200-square-foot house were a complete loss, witnesses and firefighters reported. . . .

"A man who said he was the grandson of Veva Blunt said he flicked a lit cigarette butt into the grass, and that's how it [the fire] started," Garcia said. The man, identified by witnesses and firefighters as William Hall, said he and a work crew were clearing brush from the property when the fire started, Garcia reported.

It was not immediately clear whether Hall would face any charges in the case.

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