Arson Believed Cause of Apartment Blaze

A fire that might have been deliberately set by vagrants Monday night caused $56,000 in damage to a vacant apartment, fire officials said.

No injuries were reported in the blaze that took 33 firefighters about 10 minutes to control, Fire Division Chief Richard Dittberner said.

At 9:05 p.m., firefighters were summoned to the 2000 block of East Monroe Avenue when neighbors saw flames shoot out of the two-story apartment unit, Dittberner said.

Investigators said they believe arson was the cause of the fire, which started in an overstuffed chair.

“There were no indications that the fire was anything but a deliberate fire,” Dittberner said. “There were no other sources of ignition.”