A fire that may have been intentionally set damaged a house in Monrovia Thursday, and authorities were investigating whether a house fire the previous night in that city may also have been intentionally set.
Firefighters were sent to the 800 block of West Walnut Avenue at 2:37 a.m. Thursday and extinguished the fire in the single-story house, according to a dispatcher with the Verdugo Fire-Communications Center, which provides fire dispatch services to 12 cities in the San Gabriel Valley.
No one was injured, the dispatcher said. A pet cat reportedly died.
Shortly before the house fire, a rubbish fire was reported in a nearby area of the city, and investigators were working to determine if the fires were connected.
About 12:35 a.m. Wednesday, a fire damaged a house in the 700 block of West Colorado Boulevard, a dispatcher said. No one was injured.
Some neighbors were forced to evacuate, and firefighters had to retreat when the house collapsed as they were pouring water on it, NBC4 reported.
Authorities said both house fires were regarded as suspicious in origin, and their cause was being investigated by various fire agencies, along with personnel from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.