Investigators Calling Early Morning Macon House Fire Arson

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Macon-Bibb County Fire Investigator Ben Gleaton says an early morning house fire in downtown Macon was ruled an arson.

Gleaton says says firefighters got the call to 1266 Third Street around 4:20 Monday morning. Gleaton believes the fire started in a back room of the house, and then spread to the attic.

Todd Rains lives next door, and was helping his landlord renovate the vacant home.
He says the blaze woke him up.

“I came out and I just saw smoke at first. I went around to see where it was coming from because there was a lot of smoke coming out of the windows… and I saw the fire going through the roof,” says Rains.

AMS Rentals owns the property. One of the owners of the company, Mark Ferling, told 41NBC it’s been a constant battle keeping homeless people out of the property. He’s had to call police on numerous occasions.

Anyone with information on this fire could receive up to a $10,000 dollar reward by calling the Arson Hotline at 1-800-282-5804.