Gwinnett investigators are blaming arson on two fires at an apartment complex in Lawrenceville.
The first fire at the Century Sugarloaf Apartments on Old Norcross Road happened on June 19. Firefighters responded to an alarm and discovered a fire in a storage unit, which they extinguished without the structure being damaged. The apartment manager alerted firefighters to a break-in at the maintenance building, according to Capt. Tommy Rutledge of the Gwinnett Fire Department.
The second fire occurred just after midnight on August 8 in a vacant apartment, which was being used as a decorated model for the complex. That fire was contained to a stack of bed mattresses in the kitchen that were set ablaze. As in the first fire, a sprinkler system kept flames from spreading, Rutledge said.
A man suspected of setting the fires was photographed by a surveillance camera in the laundry room in which he had broken into on Aug. 6.
Investigators request anyone with information about the fires or burglaries is asked to contact the Gwinnett Fire Investigations Section at 678-518-4890 or the Georgia Arson Control Hotline. Georgia Arson Control, Inc. offers a reward of up to 10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of arson.
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