A pair of fires at a Grant County tourist attraction appears to be suspicious.

Seven volunteer fire departments spent time Tuesday night and Wednesday morning battling the blazes at Smoke Hole Caverns near Petersburg.

Investigators say the buildings that housed the restaurant and the gift shop were destroyed.

Petersburg Volunteer Fire Dept. Chief Tad Ours tells MetroNews firefighters knocked down the first fire Tuesday night and cleared the scene after making sure there were no hotspots. He says surprisingly they were called back to the scene Wednesday morning at six o'clock for what was described as a rekindle. The chief says that wasn't the case.

"No definitely not," he said. "You don't see that much fire on a rekindle. Usually on a rekindle you may have a hot spot here or there."

Chief Ours says there wasn't enough heat from the original fire to cause the second building, about four feet away, to catch on fire after firefighters left the first time. "We never had any burn at all on the other building," he said. "It's highly unlikely that there would be enough radiant heat to ignite the other building without arson."

The state Fire Marshal's Office and Grant County Sheriff's Department are investigating.

Volunteer fire crews from Petersburg, Maysville, Moorefield, Seneca, Upper Tract and Franklin were on the scene on helping cover other areas.

Smoke Hole Caverns is a privately owned tourist attraction along Routes 28 and 55. It's open year-round and features the world's largest ribbon stalactite.

Co-owner Jerry Lee Hedrick, 60, was sentenced to 2-10 years in prison last month after being convicted on charges that he sexually abused a former female worker at Smoke Hole Caverns. Hedrick is currently in the Potomac Highlands Regional Jail.