Vacant Belleville building burns for the second time this year
Firefighters were dispatched to Grand Avenue, where a vacant building was engulfed in flames when they arrived early Wednesday morning.
No injuries were reported in the fire that destroyed the house, which had been divided into apartments.
Belleville Fire Chief Tom Pour said there was no gas or electric service in the building and the cause of the fire has not been determined.
“We believe there was some human involvement, but whether it was intentional or accidental is part of our investigation,” Pour said.
It took crews about 45 minutes to extinguish the fire, Pour said.
The building, which is in the first block of Grand Avenue near East Main Street, had been vacant since an electrical fire there caused minimal damage on May 6, Pour said.
“We received a call at 4:11 a.m. and when we arrived on scene, the house was fully involved,” Pour said. “We could not enter. We attacked it from the outside. It took about 45 minutes to extinguish the fire.”
Firefighters used multiple hoses and when the fire was out, “we used a backhoe to knock down some walls to make sure everybody was safe,” Pour said.
Belleville’s arson investigation unit was called to sift through what’s left of the structure in an effort to find answers.
