Authorities: Avondale apartment fire may have been intentionally started

CINCINNATI - Authorities are investigating leads that an Avondale apartment building was intentionally set on fire Monday morning.

Officials say when they responded to the apartment building in the 800 block of Blair Avenue at about 5:30 a.m. for the fire, it wasn't the first time they had been there overnight.

"When we turned on to Blair, we couldn't see anything.  We had heavy smoke packed down to the ground, so we were driving through smoke looking for it.  And when we got down here, then we saw the fire shooting through,” Capt. Michael Hines said.

Authorities responded to the residence just a few hours earlier for a call about an assault in the building, said District 1 Fire Chief Raffel Prophett. No one was transported to the hospital, but Prophett said the assault was part of a dispute between a female resident on the second floor of the building and her son.

Prophett said the investigators are looking in to accusations that the fire was intentionally started following the assault.

Authorities say the fire started on the second floor of the three-family apartment building and they were able to extinguish the flames in about 15 minutes. A resident was in the third floor apartment with two children -- an 11-year-old and a 5-year-old -- and all of them escaped without injuries, according to officials. The 11-year-old alerted the others in the residence of the fire and they were able to escape, Prophett said.

Authorities say no one was in the first floor apartment at the time of the fire. There were neither firefighter nor civilian injuries in the fire.

Police closed surrounding roads to traffic while firefighters responded to the scene.

Authorities say the fire caused an estimated $40,000 to $50,000 in damage to the building. The Red Cross is assisting three adults and two children who were displaced by the fire.

The 800 block of Blair Avenue in Avondale was the scene where then 4-year-old Khyren Landrum was shot in the hips and legs in March 2012.

Stay with 9 On Your Side and WCPO.com for updates as they become available.
 

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9 On Your Side Reporter Kendall Herold contributed to this report.