DEMOPOLIS-“I think it was arson and I want him picked up tonight,” said Armstead Hertz, the owner of the house said, “The woman renting my home said she knew the person.” This was the scene during a house fire call that was answered by the Demopolis Fire Department on Wednesday night.

Captain Carl Johnson with the DFD said a call came into the E-911 office at 6:12 p.m., that a house at 602 First Avenue, which was currently being rented by Patricia Jones in Demopolis was on fire and the DFD responded to the call with two engines and 10 firefighters, who once they arrived only two minutes later, quickly had the house fire under control in a matter of minutes, he said.

“The fire started in one of the bedrooms in the house, but there is suspension as to how the fire was started and the Demopolis Police Department are currently investigating the fire,” Johnson said.

There were zero injuries during the blaze be they firefighters or the residents of the home, he said. There were crowds of residents filling the streets to watch the fire consume the home and to also console the current residents.

There were four police officers with the DPD on site including Investigator Tim Williams and Detective Tim Soronen talking to the owner and the current residents about the suspicious cause of the fire.