Tampa Police are investigating the second house fire this week that occurred in the same Tampa neighborhood.
Police responded to a house fire on the corner of W. Palmetto Street and N. Harold Avenue. A call came in around 2:15 a.m. Friday morning after a neighbor saw flames coming from the front of the home.
It appears that no one was home at the time of the fire. Although there is no official word on what started the fire at this time, homeowner, Myron Smith, told ABC Action News that he believes the fire started in a trash can sitting on the porch of the home.
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"There was a city of Tampa trash can on the porch, a blue one. One of those big 70 gallon ones. It was up there the other day. Now it's not there. It smells like burning plastic. So I think that's what they used to start it," Smith said.
The homeowner, Myron Smith, told ABC Action News that officers told him that the fire was intentionally set.
"He said right now it's a hot spot. There have been several fires and incidents in this area that they're looking into."
Tampa Fire Arson Investigators are currently on scene.
On Monday, police responded to a suspicious house fire on the same street. Investigators think that someone intentionally set fire to a home with an 86-year-old woman inside. Just two days before that, someone had set a car on fire at a different home in the same neighborhood. Investigators not sure if the cases are connected.
Anyone with information about any of these three crimes is asked to contact the Fire Marshal's office at (813) 274-7000.
