UPDATE: Richard Street vacant house fire not the first

Dayton — UPDATE @ 8:21 p.m.

Fire crews had to bust into a boarded up vacant house to put out a fire at 2003 Richard Street earlier Saturday morning.

District Fire Chief Mike Fasnacht described on arrival to the scene that there was heavy smoke coming from the first floor of the two-story residence.

“It was boarded up really well, which took some effort to open the structure. Once we did, we identified that there was a fire here prior to this one” said Chief Fasnacht.

Once the fire was out, crews begin looking into the cause of blaze.

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“We did a search of the building and found no one. It appears that this vacant structure was being used for squatting," he added.

He confirmed that there were no injuries and that gas or electrical was not the cause of the fire.

The incident is still being investigated.

INITIAL REPORT:

Crews are on the scene of a house fire at 2003 Richard Street in Dayton. According to reports, the fire was called in at 2:42 a.m.

Dispatch confirmed that the house was vacant and that no one was in the house at the time of the fire.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

This is a developing story and we will update as more information becomes available.

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