Vacant Homes Catch Fire Across Cities

Firefighters responded to separate residential fires in Knoxville, Syracuse, Columbia, and Fort Wayne. In Knoxville, an abandoned home fire prompted officials to close part of W. Emory Road so crews could use pressurized hoses. In Syracuse, a fire at a vacant, boarded-up building led to partial collapses and hazardous conditions that forced firefighters to work from outside; no injuries were reported, and investigators could not determine the cause. Columbia’s fire was under control, but the cause and whether anyone was injured remained unknown as investigators responded. In Fort Wayne, firefighters quickly extinguished a fire on the back porch of a vacant home.