A fire that gutted a vacant Donald Street house Sunday was likely caused by someone who broke into the building, say fire officials.
Firefighters were battling the suspicious blaze late Sunday afternoon for four to five hours.
Fire prevention captain Eric Nordlund said Monday the investigation is still ongoing, however, the origin point was probably in the basement of the property.
The building was a single-family dwelling that had been vacant for some time; no utilities were connected to the house and it was secured by the owner.
“It looks like someone has potentially broken in and set a fire,” Nordlund said.
The incident is similar to other recent suspicious fires in vacant buildings.
Nordlund said the property owners are doing their best to make sure the buildings are secure, but they should be extra diligent in trying to keep out intruders.
“This potentially was the case of somebody that didn’t belong in this property breaking and either purposely setting a fire or doing something that caused a fire,” he said.
