VIDEOS/PHOTOS: An empty building at 141 E. Marietta St. is likely a total loss after a fire on Thursday that the building manager said was probably inevitable.
Building manager Bill England said the building was empty and boarded up, but they have had a lot of trouble with homeless people breaking in and building fires for warmth, which he thought could have caused the fire.
"Homeless guys keep breaking in and starting fires in the fireplace in this apartment up here," England said, gesturing to the upper floor of the building. "I'm assuming that's what happened."
The building and several nearby houses are all owned by the same person, he said, and all need extensive remodeling to make them habitable. The Marietta Street structure was boarded up repeatedly in attempts to keep people from breaking in, but England said they kept finding ways inside anyway. They stripped the insulation off wires to fuel their fires, based on evidence he has found in the past.