Scene of a May 1, 2022, fire at the old Rifkin Scrap Iron & Metal site at 1445 N. Niagara St. in Saginaw.

SAGINAW, MI — Saginaw firefighters responded to three structure fires in one day, including one at an old scrap metal plant. All the blazes are suspicious.

The fire at the old Rifkin Scrap Iron & Metal site at 1445 N. Niagara St. was reported at 5:09 p.m. on Sunday, May 1, after someone spotted smoke coming from a building, said Saginaw Fire Chief Thomas Raines. The location is no longer active as a metal processor, Rifkin having relocated to 1011 N. Washington Ave., though several buildings there are used for storage, Raines said.

Firefighters arrived to find a fire in an office space that was attached to a large pole barn. The fire spread from the office into a portion of the larger storage structure, Raines said.

Firefighters quickly quelled the blaze and cleared the scene at 6:30 p.m. Buena Vista Township firefighters provided mutual aid.

“It is suspicious in nature,” Raines said of the fire’s origin. “We will be doing an investigation.”

Firefighters responded to two blazes earlier in the day. The first was reported at 9:22 a.m. and involved a two-storied vacant house at 1441 Cornelia St. The fire had begun on the unoccupied house’s first floor, Raines said.

About two hours later at 11:24 a.m., a fire was reported at 902 N. Bond St. The fire was contained to an unattached garage next to a vacant, boarded up house. The fire consumed the garage and crews were on scene for about an hour, Raines said.

No injuries were suffered in either of these earlier fires, the origins of which are also being investigated.

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