CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago police have opened an arson investigation after two fires on the South Side damaged Bronzeville's historic Swift Mansion Sunday.
Officials said the fire first started shortly before noon at the Swift Mansion, located at 45th Street and South Michigan Avenue. Chicago fire crews were able to safely put out the fire, but then it reignited around 2:40 p.m.
The second fire burned for over 90 minutes before firefighters put it out just after 4 p.m.
A Chicago Fire Department spokesman told WBBM the building appeared to have been undergoing renovations. There were no injuries.
The building was built in 1892. It most recently served as home to the Inner City Youth and Adult Foundation.
Sunday's fire at the Swift Mansion wasn't the only negative situation surrounding the building.
The mansion is under scrutiny over accusations that it illegally evicted seven African American men and two Hispanic men to make way for a lucrative deal to house undocumented migrants.
Two of those evicted residents have filed lawsuits seeking an injunction to prevent their homelessness during the winter.
The displaced residents said they were given only a few days' notice and forced to vacate their premises immediately, without written notice, under the pretext of a new contract.
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