COLUMBUS, Ohio – A homeless woman living inside a vacant East Side duplex was the only injury suffered in four fires, two of them deliberately set, which broke out in Columbus in a span of less than three hours overnight.
The woman escaped from the fire at Mt. Vernon Avenue and N. 21st Street at 3:54 a.m. after she smelled smoke, Division of Fire spokeswoman Lee Cole said. The woman was treated for smoke inhalation.
The fire destroyed the building and damaged two others nearby, Cole said.
Firefighters were already on the scene of a fire in Victorian Village that chased an elderly woman into the cold. Cole says the electrical fire at 999 Michigan Avenue broke out just before 3:10 a.m. and resulted in approximately $100,000 in damage.
The woman, described as in her 70’s, escaped from the fire and was not injured, Cole said.
Two other fires were determined to be the result of arson and investigators are still trying to determine if they are related, Cole said.
A fire was reported in a stairwell of a home at 1788 Washington Avenue at 1:45 a.m. and a second fire was reported in a garage facing an alley a few blocks away about 20 minutes later. Cole says both fires were deliberately set.
Damage from the Washington Avenue fire was estimated at $1,500 and Cole says the garage fire caused $500 in damage.