NILES, Mich.--The Niles Fire Department may be investigating an arsonist.

Firefighters responded to a vacant house fire around 4 this morning, the 2nd fire this week.The fire destroyed a rental home on Merrifield Avenue on the city's east side.

When firefighters got there the back door was open and smoke was escaping from the house. The fire chief told ABC57 that it incident looked suspicious.

"Second fire within a week that we've had similar circumstances,” say Niles Fire Chief Larry Lamb. “Both at the same time in the morning and both really an unknown fire on vacant properties, so, we're a little concerned."

The chief says before this week, there hadn't been a vacant house fire in Niles in a while.