Firefighters responded to two house fires within an hour and both were fully involved upon firefighters arrival, which stretched city fire crews thin early Saturday morning, firefighters said.

The first fire started around 2 a.m. in the 700 block of Mia Avenue, and when crews arrived to the fire the home had heavy fire showing from the second floor, District Chief Barry Baldwin said.

Firefighters immediately went into a defensive fire fight due to the intensity of the flames, Baldwin said.

The initial reports from people in the area had firefighters concerned there may have been people inside.

“We had a report from the neighbor across the street that there were people that had possibly been staying in the structure,” Baldwin said. “We did a primary and secondary search of the structure and we found no victims inside the structure.”

A short time after the Mia Avenue fire, a second house fire was reported in the 800 block of Xenia Avenue. Heavy flames were also reported upon crews arrival on Xenia Avenue.

Crews quickly determined the Xenia Avenue home was vacant and no injuries were reported.

District Chief James Rose said vacant fires on the city’s east side have been a real problem lately, especially in the area of Saturday’s Xenia Avenue fire. Several fires have occurred in that area in the last 10 days.

“Arson such as this can be a felony and we have investigators investigating the case, and we will prosecute anybody,” Rose said. “Wherever the leads go we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”

Both homes were destroyed in the fires and firefighters consider both blazes suspicious.