WINONA — A Latsch Island boathouse was destroyed last Thursday in a fire that was intentionally set, the Winona Fire Department has determined.
Assistant Fire Chief Jim Multhaup said the fire was reported about 5 a.m. When firefighters arrived, the house, which is a cabin built so it can float on the water, was fully engulfed in flames and destroyed.
The boathouse is used only in summer so there was no electrical service to it, nor was there any fuel in the house, he said.
"The police discovered some fresh footprints going up to the back of the boathouse on the ice," he said.
The boathouse was destroyed, and vinyl siding on an adjacent house melted, Multhaup said. Latsch is on the Mississippi River across the main channel from Winona but it still part of Winona. There are a few dozen boathouses there.
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Anyone with information about the arson is asked to call the local Crime Stopper at 507-457-6530 or the state Arson Hotline at 1-800-723-2020.
