Witness scares off guys in hoodies in another abandoned building fire downtown (4 photos)

Another suspicious fire occurred in a vacant building downtown early this morning and a more-serious incident may have been prevented by a young woman living next door.

This is the fifth reported suspicious fire in a vacant or abandoned downtown building in less than a month.

At 3:06 a.m. on Sunday May 7, Sault Ste. Marie Fire Services (SSMFS) received an emergency call to a believed-to-be vacant building on the 300 block of Albert Street West said Platoon Chief Damon Ferris.

SooToday visited Albert Street and spoke to a resident in the 300-block who lives next to a vacant building who not only said she witnessed the incident but that she also scared off the alleged arsonists.

At around 3 a.m. the 20-year-old woman (name withheld) was sitting in her living room and heard the sound of movement and two voices just outside her window, coming from the roughly two-meter wide alleyway that divides her apartment building and the abandoned building next door.

“We’re gonna' blow this bitch up,” said one of the voices.

The witness said she then heard the sound of a lighter flicking.

She immediately became fearful and ran out the front door of her building and around into the alleyway shining her iPhone flashlight.

The witness said she saw two young men in their late teens to early 20s in the alleyway.

She describes one having a black hoodie and the other a grey hoodie .

She said both had their hoods up and were wearing non-matching track pants.

The witness, who has a small frame and is about 5’4” and 110 llbs, said that the arsonists were startled by her and exclaimed ‘oh shit’ before running across the alleyway behind Albert Street then through the yard between two houses onto Alexandra Street.

The witness said she then moved further down into the alleyway and saw a basement window near the rear of the abandoned building on fire.

Upon arrival of firefighters a “small fire” had already burned itself out and there was no structural damage said Ferris.

There were no injuries said Ferris.

Because there were signs of possible arson, SSMFS handed investigation of the incident over to Sault Ste. Marie Police Services (SSMPS).

Ferris could not comment further on the details of the incident and referred further inquiries to SSMPS who had no information at this time.

There have been a number of suspicious fires in empty downtown buildings recently.

On April 17, 27, and 30 there were three different suspicious fires in the abandoned Pulp Tower at Mill Square.

On April 28 a fire occurred at a vacant house at 172 Cathcart Street.

There was another fire at the exact same Cathcart Street house in July 2016.

“They are vacant properties, there is no reason for a fire to start in those locations. Right now we do not know if they are linked but it is something we are exploring,” said SSMPS Const. Sonny Spina on April 28 however he was not available to comment on the the May 7 incident by the time of publication.

SooToday will update this story when more information becomes available.