Two abandoned building fires in Gary Saturday appear to have been the work of arsonists, fire officials said.
Firefighters responded to a burning abandoned food mart in the 4200 block of Georgia Street late Saturday afternoon. The single-story brick structure had already suffered a previous fire, according to Paul Curtis, a neighbor who lives next door.
“This is the second time this thing burned, about six, seven months ago,” Curtis said.
Battalion Chief James Delgado Sr. wouldn’t allow any of the men inside due to prior damage to the building.
“When we got here, you could see the condition of the building — the roof was in a V-shape, so we’re in defensive mode,” Delgado said Saturday. “It’s going to come down any minute now, so we’re employing the ‘surround and drown’.”
Although no one was in the building, Delgado was even more concerned for when it did come down.
“It’s going to be a bear to put out, and I’m worried that the next building might catch. It could be a small business, and we don’t want it catching fire,” he said.
The fire, Delgado said, was the second he and his crew had put out that day, the first an abandoned two-story house in the 700 block of Virginia Street. That one took an hour to extinguish, and it, too, happened under suspicious circumstances.
“Both of these appear to be arson,” Delgado said. “We get a lot of them these days.”
Gary Fire Chief Paul Bradley confirmed that the city has seen a rash of arson fires recently. No one has been hurt, he said, nor have any of them been big enough that the department couldn’t get them extinguished during their shifts.
There are thousands of abandoned buildings in Gary.
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“Arson is always a problem because it is a criminal act, places our personnel at unnecessary risk and potentially endangers innocent bystanders and nearby property,” Bradley said in an email. “The fires are still currently under investigation, so at this time, we are not certain if these fires were the work of one person or different individuals.”
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter.