LORAIN — The Lorain Fire Department battled an intentionally set fire at a vacant South Lorain home overnight.

The home, 4306 Maple Drive, was valued at about $30,000 and was a total loss, according to Lorain Fire Capt. Jeff Fenn. The home was a story and a half and approximately 1,500 square feet, he said.

The call came in at 3:25 a.m. and kept fire crews on the scene for three hours.

“There was fire coming out of all four sides of the home and all the windows on arrival,” Fenn said.

Firefighters let the fire burn through the home’s roof and then sprayed it with water from the tower truck, he said.

“That way we hit it and killed it in a hurry,” Fenn said. “If we’d tried to fight it by spraying water through the windows, we’d still be there right now.”

The home was vacant and had been vacant for possibly up to nine years and had no utilities, Fenn said. Witnesses at the scene told firefighters there had been a vagrant living in the home, but firefighters didn’t see anyone, and there was no one in the home, according to Fenn.

How the fire was started has not been determined, but investigators determined it had been intentionally set, Fenn said. He said no arrests have been made and there are no suspects at this time.

Contact Rona Proudfoot at 329-7124 or rproudfoot@chroniclet.com.