A fire in Louisville’s Portland neighborhood destroyed a vacant home on Thursday night and investigators believe it was intentionally set.
It happened just before midnight in the 1800 block of Portland Avenue, fire officials confirmed. The heavy fire took 32 firefighters about 20 minutes to get under control.
The vacant two-story house and its attached garage sustained extensive damage, fire officials said. A vacant home right next door was also damaged.
Thankfully, both buildings were empty and no one was hurt.
Arson investigators determined the fire started in the attached garage.
Friday morning, Metro Arson arrested 66-year-old Robert Willis Jr., accusing him of intentionally starting the fire.
Investigators said a witness saw Willis leaving the house seconds before the blaze began. An arrest citation shows Willis lives just three doors down from the building officials say he set on fire.