Apartment Fire Declared Arson

The Oak Lawn Fire Department notified police that a fire that occurred on June 6 in an empty unit of an apartment building on the 4900 block of West Columbus has been officially declared arson.

The village fire investigator told police that an insurance investigator located an empty Gatorade bottle with traces of accelerant in the unit’s bedroom. Fire investigators also determined the bedroom to be a secondary point of the fire’s origin.

Several pages of newspaper and receipts were found in the bedroom. The building owners suspect that a young family member may be responsible for the fire, police said. The fire is believed to have been set around 11:40 a.m. June 6.

The Oak Lawn fire investigator said the door to the unit was unlocked and there was no sign of forced entry when firefighters arrived to strike the fire.