Huge house fire in Dayton called suspicious

UPDATE @ 10:42 p.m.: An arson investigator has been dispatched to the scene of the house fire on Lexington Avenue, which has been deemed suspicious because the electricity had been shut off, Dayton fire Capt. Paul Raisch said.

When crews arrived, they found heavy fire on the second floor and performed a standard search and found no one inside, he said. Crews found no indication the structure had been occupied.

“Unfortunately, they become targets,” Raisch said of the many vacant buildings in the city.

UPDATE @ 10:10 p.m.: The preliminary determination is that the Lexington Avenue house fire is suspicious in origin. The structure is vacant, according to a Dayton fire official. The fire has been put out.

FIRST REPORT

Crews are on the scene of a huge house fire in the 600 block of Lexington Avenue.

The alarm went out about 9:40 p.m. for a working structure fire at Lexington Avenue near Catalpa Drive.

We have not heard that anyone has been injured.

We have a crew on scene. We will update this report as we get information.