Arson Suspected In South Sacramento Duplex Fire
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Firefighters found a Molotov cocktail outside of a south Sacramento duplex that caught fire on Friday.
The fire broke out at 4:30 a.m. at a home on Amherst Street. When fire crews arrived at the fire, they found smoke billowing smoke from the structure.
"I just looked out, fire trucks, and wondering what in the world," neighbor Pamela Grigsby said. "That's sad."
The Molotov cocktail was found outside the vacant duplex.
"When we do get them, we treat them like a crime scene," Sacramento Fire Battalion Chief Jonathan Burgess said.
Crime tape was quickly put up and Sacramento Fire told CBS13 that the Molotov cocktail found in front of the home was unbroken, but there were signs in the back of the house that flammable liquid could have been used.
"Makes it extremely suspicious," Burgess said.
And that has neighbors worried.
"It's very frustrating," Kevin Williams said. "You see me with my kids now, just for this to happen, a block away, it's terrible because if it got out of control it could have ended up at my house, take out the houses in the area."
Firefighters say the owner of the duplex was expected to rent the two units Saturday. Instead, the potential renters are left without places to live, but the people who do live in the area knows this could have been a lot different.
"It could have shattered the whole neighborhood, it could have damaged the houses next door and behind this one," Williams said.
The fire department said damages to the home are around $20,000 to $30,000 and the duplex is uninhabitable.
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