Crews battle another suspicious Ogden fire

OGDEN — Another suspicious vacant structure fire, the second in two days, kept investigators busy Friday.

The latest incident happened just before 4 a.m. at 3111 Jefferson Ave. The building was abandoned and reportedly had a problem with transients, said Ogden Deputy Fire Chief Chad Tucker. The first arriving crews found heavy smoke and fire coming from the building, he said in a statement.

Crews were forced to fight the fire in a defensive mode, meaning they primarily applied water from the outside to prevent it from spreading to other structures. The heat and flames caused about $5,000 damage to the exterior of another building, Tucker said. The abandoned structure suffered about $75,000 in damage and was considered a total loss.

The fire comes on the heels of another blaze Wednesday night at 1893 Childs Ave. In that fire, crews arrived to find heavy smoke and fire coming once again out of an abandoned building.

Wednesday's fire was in the same area where a rash of suspicious fires were started in 2008. The neighborhood is slated for a multimillion dollar redevelopment project,

Marianne Mancuso, 48, was arrested in connection with some, but not all, of those fires last year. She reportedly told police she wanted to jump-start the redevelopment project.

Anyone with information on the latest fires may call Ogden police or fire at 801-629-8221. Authorities are encouraging residents to report all suspicious activity in their neighborhoods and take pictures, if possible, of any suspicious people.

— Pat Reavy