State fire marshal investigating cause of suspicious house fires at 2 homes in Clay Hill

Clay County Fire Rescue photo. (News4JAX.com via Clay County Fire Rescue)

MIDDLEBURG, Fla. – The Clay County Sheriff’s Office says it’s investigating two fires at unoccupied homes in the Clay Hill area.

According to Sheriff Michelle Cook, the suspicious fires occurred at homes that were recently built and listed for sale, and they occurred at approximately the same time.

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“At each location, a message was left behind. The messages left behind indicated a potential bias based motive,” Cook said in a statement on Facebook.

Clay County Fire Rescue said the fires happened within 30 minutes of each other. The first was on Conifer Circle, and the second fire was a at a home on Sharon Lane (in accompanying photo).

The state fire marshal and Clay County deputies are investigating.