Small fire being investigated near same area as string of late-2012 arsons

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical is still investigating a late Friday fire at an apartment complex in the 1700 block of West 24th Street.

According to Journal-World news partner Operation 100, fire crews were called to Cedarwood Apartments for a possible structure fire at 11:48 p.m. and found a bag of trash on fire inside the building. The fire was quickly controlled but it filled the building with smoke.

Division Chief Doug Green said on Saturday that no one was injured during the fire and that the fire was still under investigation.

The fire occurred in the same area as a string of 21 arson cases that took place from October to December 2012. A suspect has yet to be found for those arsons, which mostly occurred near occupied apartment buildings and were usually small and easily extinguished.

Green could not confirm whether Friday’s fire was related to the string of arsons, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation.