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Arson suspected Photo by Bob Pennell District 3 Fire Marshal Lou Gugliotta comforts Ramona Kiser as smoke clears from her Eagle Point tax service business. Business burns Eagle Point police cite two juveniles By JULIE SWENSEN EAGLE POINT -- Police charged two boys with second-degree arson Wednesday night in connection with a fire that destroyed a 100-year-old building that housed a tax business. Licensed tax consultant Ramona Kiser's 15-year-old business, which has about 400 clients, went up in flames at about 2:45 p.m. Wednesday. While firefighters were able to save tax records in the downtown building at 118 W. Main St., the fire ruined paperwork for about 20 customers whose tax extensions needed to be filed by Aug. 15. Kiser helplessly watches her business go up in smoke Wednesday. Police said the two Eagle Point boys, 10 and 14, were cited and released late Wednesday night. They had been in a shed adjacent to the tax business before the fire broke out, evidently with a propane torch, said officer Darin May. "I think the intent was to burn something," May said. "They're not being real forthcoming." As to whether the boys are scared, May said, "I'm sure they are, and they should be." The fire started on the outside of the building, and juveniles were seen running from the area, Eagle Point public safety director David Strand said. The fire, which reduced the shed to charred sticks, traveled up to the eave of the tax business and went into its attic. Jackson County Fire District 3 battalion chief Roger Adams said firefighters had no access to the attic. Crews from District 3 and the city of Eagle Point fought the blaze. Some bystanders expressed dismay that firefighters did not retrieve more tax records. Adams said firefighters worked on salvaging all of the records they could, and were able to salvage most of them. But they feared the roof would collapse. Later, it did. Witness Eric Holzhauser, 27, said the flames were easily 60 feet high. The building which held the tax business was a total loss; Kiser estimated the content loss to be $15,000. More than just tax records were destroyed. Kiser's daughter, Kristy Artman, lost records from her bookkeeping business stored in the building along with furniture and mementos. Kiser was storing her daughter's belongings for a few weeks until Artman moved out of a trailer and into a house. Artman, 31, broke down Wednesday when she remembered that her cedar chest containing 4-H mementos was stored there. "We said this was a good safe place," recalled Kiser, the sole support for her family. Her husband, Frank, is an unemployed logger. Down the street, public accountant Rodney Erickson offered Kiser work space in his office. The historic building, believed to be a former telephone office, was uninsured. Owner Ron Grensky, a former state senator, said the building was too old to be insurable. "This is like every landowner's nightmare," Grensky said. "But luckily, no one was hurt. That's the main thing." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA