A blaze of suspicious origin destroyed a vacant duplex early Wednesday on Knower Street near Broadway and South Avenue in Toledo?s Old South End, the city fire authorities said.
There were no injuries.
Fire crews arrived at 659 Knower St. about 5:25 a.m. and saw heavy flames coming from the rear upper part of the duplex, Battalion Fire Chief David Hitt said.
Firefighters had an aerial operation up and running in about 15 minutes, about as soon as they had a water hose extended to the scene of the fire from a hydrant across the street, Chief Hitt said.
The blaze was largely under control at 6:30 a.m., by which time the structure was a total loss, the chief said.
The cause of the fire was listed as suspicious, because the duplex was vacant and because it was the second blaze there this summer. The exact cause of the fire was unknown, the chief said.
The first fire at the duplex happened July 12. It was also ruled suspicious.
The Lucas County Auditor?s Web site lists the owner of the duplex, built in 1884, as Dan Prewitt Jr.
Knower between Broadway and Cordova Street was closed to traffic for about two hours.
