Posted: Jan 11, 2012 5:33 AM
Updated: Jan 11, 2012 7:23 AM
Just hours after police took a man into custody who they say was possibly connected to at least one fire in the Hill Rise Drive neighborhood, Lexington firefighters responded to yet another suspicious blaze in the area.
Fire department units rushed to the Preakness Apartments just after 11 p.m. Tuesday after a resident noticed a fire burning inside a complex laundry room. The woman who spotted the fire managed to extinguish the flames, and there was no major damage. The fire was set inside a dryer. The resident who put out the fire said she saw somebody running from the building.
Officials say whoever set the fire likely got into the building through an unlocked window. Police dusted the area for fingerprints.
Investigators say the most recent fire may be connected with a string of arson fires in the neighborhood over the last couple of weeks, but they don't know for sure.
"It's too soon to tell if they're related or not. The M.O. was a little bit different than what we've been looking at in the past. But they could be related, and they couldn't. It's too soon to tell," Lexington Fire Department Major Mark Blankenship said.
On Tuesday afternoon, police say they took a man into custody at the hospital after medical staff treated him for burns. Investigators say they think he might have set fire to his own unit at the Preakness Apartments Monday night. Police charged him on an unrelated warrant. They say they have not charged him with arson, but did question him about those fires.
Fire officials say there have been at least 10 suspicious fires in the neighborhood.
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