Manhattan Firefighters continue to investigate a fire at Pawnee Mental Health Services in the 2000 block of Claflin, which has been determined to have been intentionally set.
At approximately 6:35 a.m. Saturday, the Manhattan Fire Department was dispatched to Pawnee Mental Health and Upon arrival, crews found a grass fire next to a commercial building that was quickly extinguished.
Firefighters made entry into the structure and found smoke within the building, and realized fire was inside the wall of the structure. Crews opened up the exterior wall to complete their efforts. The fire was controlled in less than 15 minutes.
Loss to the two story structure is estimated at $10,000 to the structure and $1,000 to contents. The owner is listed as Riley County.Sufficient evidence was recovered during the fire investigation to eliminate all known potential accidental ignition sources and determine the fire was intentionally set.
Fire investigators from the Manhattan Fire Department and the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office, in cooperation with the Riley County Police Department, are currently working on the investigation.
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In addition to a fire at Pawnee Mental Health, firefighrers responded to 2016 Shirley Lane for a fire which caused an estimated $20,000 -in loss–including $15,000 to the structure and $5,000 damage to the contents.
The fire had spread to a wooden fence located at that address, with an estimated loss of 200 dollars.
The fire was called in at 2:07 p.m.Saturday.
The owner is listed as the Debra Smith Trust, out of Arizona.
