Garfield Towers 2nd fire ruled arson

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Terre Haute fire officials ruled a weekend fire at Garfield Towers as arson.

On May 18th a fire at the Garfield Towers in Terre Haute destroyed the 6th floor.

A chair caught on fire which forced officials to evacuate the entire building.

Less than 5 months later a second chair caught fire inside the apartment complex.

Chief Jeff Fisher with the Terre Haute Fire Department says, "There is a big difference between the two, the one in May the chair was burnt so bad all that was left was the frame. In this one the chair did not burn completely up."

Fisher says May's fire is still under investigation but Sunday night's fire left evidence that someone had actually lit the chair on fire.

"The fabric that hangs down from the chair on both sides; you can tell its been lit and traveled up the chair. It wasn't as bad as the one in May but this one is absolutely an arson and we are looking for an arsonist in this case,” said Fisher.

While the two fires were different in size fisher says there were some similarities and that raised a red flag.

Fisher says, "Is this the same person? I don’t know. Yes, there are some similarities in both of these, a chair, in a common area, at Garfield Towers. If this is the act of one person, it's a very sick person and they need to get off the streets."

Fisher says if these two fires are connected, action will be taken.

"Is it the same person? If it is, this person if caught are going to go up for murder charges because a person died in the May fire,” said Fisher.

The Housing Authority with Garfield Towers says originally there was a $5,000 reward for any information that led to an arrest but after the second fire the reward has been bumped up to $10,000.