AKRON, Ohio — Akron firefighters responded to the 1100 block of Tonawanda Avenue early Monday morning after an unknown person set fire to the porches of two different houses.
The fires were started on the porches of duplexes that were right across from each other on the same side of the street.
According to investigators, a doorbell camera captured a person pouring gasoline on the front porch before the fires were started.
An Akron fire report said light smoke and flames were visible from the front porches when they arrived around just before 12:30 a.m.
"When I walked outside, there were firemen everywhere, and it was smoke coming from their front door," said Ayejaye Wilson, a neighbor.
Crews extinguished the fires before they spread from the porch to inside the homes. Firefighters ventilated the area to clear the smoke and fumes. The report states that there was an odor of gasoline near the homes.
"I just hope that whoever it was that did that, that they've got that out of their system and they've calmed down. Maybe you can rethink a better way of doing thing," said neighbor Sherita Hills.
At the moment, the fire department said it's treating the incident as a "random arson," and it doesn't have a suspect at this time. Concerned neighbors hope the arsonist doesn't strike again.
"I think that's crazy. I don't know if it was kids like doing dumb stuff or targeting them, or what's going on," Wilson said.
The case has been turned over to arson investigators.
