GRANITE QUARRY — Police are investigating a suspicious fire that occurred at the same apartment complex as two recent vehicle fires.
Around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, 911 received a call reporting a fire at 100 Martin St. in Granite Quarry. Multiple agencies responded.
Investigator Todd Taylor with the Granite Quarry-Faith Joint Police Authority said the fire appears to have started at the back of the apartments on the second floor, in a common area.
He said police consider the fire suspicious, but they aren’t ready to say whether or not it may be connected to the vehicle fires.
Tuesday’s fire burned one apartment and an adjacent common area, along with the roof above two apartments.
There were no injuries. Seven out of 10 apartments were occupied, and everybody was evacuated safely, Taylor said. All eight residents have been relocated to a hotel and are being assisted by the Red Cross.
Law enforcement and investigators with the county fire marshal’s office have been looking into two vehicle fires that occurred at the same apartment complex in May and June. The causes of those two fires are still undetermined.
The first fire, which occurred May 13 around midnight, involved a vehicle that had been parked near a carport at the complex for a number of years. Investigators said the fire began in the rear of the car, which was disabled and had not been operating.
The second fire happened around midnight June 26. It started on the driver’s side of a pickup, investigators said. The truck was destroyed. Another car also was damaged. The fires were contained to the carport area where the two vehicles were parked.
The vehicles belonged to different owners.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Granite Quarry-Faith Joint Police Authority at 704-279-2952 or Rowan County Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.