A fire on Jan. 8, 2026, severely damaged Northpoint Exotic Dance Club outside Peshtigo. Authorities have determined the blaze was intentionally set. April 24, 2026. PC: Fox 11 Online
TOWN OF GROVER, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The Marinette County Sheriff’s Office says it has identified a person of interest in a fire at the Northpoint Exotic Dance Club earlier this year.
Restoration crews continue to work at the club just outside of Peshtigo. It was nearly four months ago, in the early morning hours of January 8th, that the building was intentionally set on fire, causing significant damage.
“It was amazing that somebody could do that to, you know, somebody could do that to somebody’s livelihood, to somebody’s family, to not our family, but to so many families. I mean, to think that one individual could disrupt this many people’s lives is just crazy to me,” said club owner Billie Ransom.
Like the owner told us, investigators believe someone tampered with the propane system leading into building, using that to set the fire.
According to Marinette County Sheriff Randy Miller, “Some of the evidence that they found on scene determined that there were things that were manipulated and put into position to indicate that this was set by somebody.”
Through the course of the investigation, authorities were able to identify a man they believe is responsible for setting the fire.
“We had a person of interest that we were looking at and talking to once,” said Miller. “And then we had another interview set up with this individual and he’s now deceased. So we weren’t able to actually get that interview with him at that point.”
The deceased man has not been charged in connection to the fire. But, according to online court records, he was cited and fined in late 2025 with an ordinance violation for setting a fire without extinguishing it.
Authorities also confirm the person of interest was a volunteer firefighter with the Grover-Porterfield Fire Department, the same department that responded to the Northpoint fire.
Sheriff Miller added, “They’re very professional in what they do. They set a lot of standards in a lot of ways and this is just as disappointing for them as it is everybody else. But again, he was not charged and we would have liked to talk to him again however we weren’t able to.”
While charges can’t be filed against the person of interest the sheriff said his office will keep the case open, even though they don’t believe anyone else was involved.
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