Police Investigate Arson Fire At Manchester Apartment Building
MANCHESTER, N.H (CBS) - Police are investigating the second fire in a week at an apartment building in Manchester.
Sunday's fire started on the second floor.
When smoke started pouring out of her old apartment, Marie Emmons panicked. She now lives next door.
"I woke up to the sirens and the lights of the fire trucks outside and it just brought back flashbacks of the last fire last week."
WBZ-TV's Lauren Leamanczyk reports
It's the second Sunday in a row, this building caught fire. Investigators don't know how the first one started. But they are sure the second one was arson.
"It's scary knowing that there's people out there setting buildings on fire," says Emmons. "I can't even sleep anymore."
Arson is a major problem in Manchester this year. More than 50 fires have been set around the city.
"It is a concern," says Peter Lennon. "It is considerably higher than in the previous years."
Seventeen people have been arrested but there are still arsonists on the loose. Fire investigator Peter Lennon says he has a suspect in the apartment fire, but he won't say if it's someone who is linked to other arsons.
"It does have some similarities to other cases," says Lennon.
Sunday's fire started right in Marie's old closet. Destroying the possessions that weren't ruined the first time. She's just glad she and other tenants had moved out before an arsonist put them in danger again.
"They deserve to be in jail," says Emmons. "They put not just my children, my nieces, but they put everybody else's children's lives in danger."
Police are still investigating, but at this point, they can't say for sure whether the two fires in this building were linked.
