MEMPHIS, TN -
Two vacant homes in South Memphis went up in flames early Wednesday morning, June 24, 2009. Firefighters say the fires were set intentionally. It happened around 4:00 a.m. The homes were both on South Orleans, just feet from each other.
“The flame caught up to the trees and it just burned. It went up,” said neighbor Everett Murry.
“All the empty houses, if they aren't broken in, busted all the windows out, and then they start them on fire,” said neighbor David Wilson.
Neighbors said this isn't the first or even second time someone has tried to set the houses on fire in just the last month.
“This house here has been set on fire three times, that house there has been set on fire about three times. This is the first time they both have been on fire at the same time,” Wilson said.
Wayne Cook with the Memphis Fire Department said, “It's not unusual, it's getting fairly common to have quite a few vacant homes on fire. The number, I'm not sure but we've had quite a few in the last few months.”
Fire investigators aren't saying how the fires were started, or if they think the same person or people set both homes on fire.
“It bothers me; sometime it could be my house. All these trees get burning, and if it gets out of control then it's my house and everybody else's house on fire,” Wilson said.
“Yeah, it bothers me, cause you never know if they are going to hit your house next,” Murry said.
No one was injured in either fire.
Just last week, a firefighter suffered heat exhaustion battling a fire at a vacant apartment building on Winchester. That fire is under investigation.
