Arson may to be blame for vacant house fires on Detroit's west side

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Police on Detroit's west side may be searching for an arsonists after several homes in the same neighborhood go up in flames.

The two block neighborhood can't catch a break. Plagued by vacant homes and now three fires that may have been set intentionally. 

While the properties were vacant, it still hurts the people who live near the corner of Pacific and Jefferies. One of those homes belongs to Charles Rayford's parents, where his brother lives. Now, his brother is just feet away from one of the fires.

"I was concerned about that because over here to pick up my brother. I saw the smoke coming down the street and the streets are blocked off and i got very concerned. I got to my stomach because I couldn't reach my brother," Rayford said.

There are more than a handful of vacant homes on Pacific between Firwood and Jefferies. But the people who live here say it didn't used to be that way.

"It was a very, very vibrant community. To see the way it is now it's heartening to see it," Rayford said.

Go around the corner where the other two fires happened, you'll get the same response.

"I was raised on this street since I was two. And this street used to be one of the prettiest streets in this area. And now look at it. And you probably have twelve families that stay on this block," Myco Lowe said.

Police on scene say they're looking for two or maybe three suspects. Firefighters wouldn't say much about the specific fires but believes that they were set intentionally.

"It's a suspect, let's put it that way," Battalion Chief Derricke Williams said.