Homeless person suspected of starting structure fire

EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY), It’s been a busy 24 hours for several fire departments in Imperial County.

They’ve had a handful of structure fires including two fires in El Centro Tuesday afternoon.

A 2 alarm structure fire was reported just before noon near the intersection of Broadway and 7th street in El Centro.

The El Centro Fire Department was able to arrive just in time before the fire got out of control.

“Luckily the breeze was blowing in the right direction, so it was blowing away from the nearby structure that was a concern for exposure," said Cedric Cesena, El Centro Battalion Chief.

House, where the fire started, is an abandoned house.

Grey smoke filled Broadway street as first responders arrived to the scene.

Nearby buildings were immediately evacuated for their safety.

The fire department was able to control the fire and put out the flames.

No injuries were reported or damage to nearby buildings, but according to business owners next door, this isn't the first time they’ve had issues with this abandoned house.

“What’s happening is that there are a lot of homeless people that live there. They’re always there," said Leslie Pizano, business owner.

Pizano says she even saw a homeless person come out of the burning house.

“A homeless person was coming out, and the officer told him to evacuate. So I am certain he caused the fire. This right now, it affects us. We have customers coming and we had to close down. We’re glad the fire didn't spread to our offices but this is bad," said Pizano.

“We are making sure that all fire that is in any hidden spaces is addressed in order to make sure that we don't have a problem later today. So the structure is already under the watch of the city, basically going through the process to abate the home," said Cesena.

Cesena said incidents like this one are common in these types of abandoned structures.

It’s an issue that’s happening in almost every city in the county.