Vacant Homes In Muncie Going Up In Flames

In Muncie, Indiana, The Star Press reports:

• Vacant houses continue to burn throughout Muncie, with a Tuesday-night blaze along South Liberty Street requiring every Muncie firefighter on duty to respond. "We have a lot of vacant houses, and it is obviously a concern," said Fire Chief Al Richards, who was on the scene of a fire that began at 1810 S. Liberty St., then damaged two other vacant houses next to it. All 29 on-duty firefighters responded to the general-alarm blaze, ...

[...]

• [T]here have been reports of youth smoking in vacant houses, setting them ablaze. In Industry, some neighbors reported crack cocaine users were frequenting a vacant house that burned last summer. The problem with vacant houses is that too many are left unsecured, [city fire inspector David] MIller said. And the number of vacant houses in inner city neighborhoods is growing with more foreclosures and fewer people living in Muncie.

For more, see Vacant house fires point to urban decline. arson