Sunday, November 11, 2007

Another Vacant Foreclosed Home Goes Up In Flames; Investigators Suspect Squatters

In Mansfield, Ohio, the Mansfield News Journal reports:
  • After living in the same place for 26 years, Glenna Hershberger said she was heartsick to see her former two-story home ablaze Sunday afternoon. Hershberger, 59, and her husband only recently lost the 521 Springmill St. home to foreclosure. [... According to Mansfield Fire Captain Don Yarger,] "It looked like a mattress in the living room was all burned up, so I don't know if someone was smoking on it or what happened. We're still not sure what actually caused the fire, but I'd be leaning toward vagrancy." [...] Neighborhood watch coordinator Amanda Stamfield, 33, said she suspected drug dealers had been in and out of the home since the Hershbergers moved out.

For more, see Vagrants suspected in Mansfield house fire.

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