Peoria firefighters responded to two Saturday fires — one of which an investigator said was intentional.
Around 4 p.m. Saturday, Peoria fire fighters responded to a fire on the first floor of a home located at 719 N. Nowland.
The occupants of the home were outside when fire department crews arrived, said Battalion Chief Michael Hughes. A Peoria Fire Department investigator deemed cause of the fire was arson. There were no reports of injuries to firefighters.
The second fire occurred just after 10 p.m. Saturday inside a two-story residential building at 607 Phelps St. Nine people were inside the building; all were evacuated without injury. (Firefighters were uninjured at the time of the report, as well.)
The fire took firefighters about 50 minutes to extinguish, Battalion Chief Scott Strum said in a media release.
"Due to a heavy contents load, complicated layout configuration, and the fire extending to the second story, this fire proved to be difficult to get under control," Strum said. "Additional fire companies were called to the scene to relieve exhausted firefighters."
The cause of the fire, which reportedly began in the building's basement, is not yet known. The Peoria Fire Department estimated building damage at $120,000.
