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Ogden police and fire departments are working together to find the people who they believe set another abandoned home on fire Saturday night.
This is the seventh house fire in the past two weeks in the same area of Ogden. Firefighters and police are getting fed up with what they believe to be a suspected arsonist on their hands.
Another day, another fire. Ogden firefighters have been busy lately putting out house fires in a single area. "We're firefighters, and we put out fires. So we want the public to know they're safe in the area," Deputy Chief Chad Tucker, with the Ogden Fire Department, said.
Saturday night's fire was at 1880 Child's Ave. When crews arrived, the abandoned home was already engulfed in flames. Police officers assisted firefighters in searching the area for anyone who might be suspicious, and now they're starting to use force to enter boarded up homes.
Tucker said, "Inside they did find a transient sound asleep at the time. Startled him. And he had a warrant for his arrest, so they took him into custody."
Police say they don't think that man has anything to do with these fires. They're fires that, at this point, investigators don't even know are arson.
"They're abandoned homes, therefore it is suspicious. However, it could be transients coming through the buildings, people intentionally setting fires, it could be people accidentally setting fires," Tucker said.
Investigators have collected samples from the homes to test for any accelerants, but there are no results so far.
The fires have all started within a 12-hour span, from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. Search dogs have been unsuccessful in finding anyone in the area.
Police have increased security in the area, but firefighters say it's too expensive to patrol 24/7.
Tucker said, "If it is in fact an intentional fire, it's still an intentional fire and we want to stop people from lighting fires. If they're doing it in abandoned homes, where will they light the next one?"
Saturday night's fire caused an estimated $50,000. When asked how much it's costing the city to fight the fires, firefighters simply said, "a lot."
E-mail: ngonzales @ksl.com