Authorities investigating series of 'suspicious' fires in Avondale

AVONDALE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - Thanks to Budlight, the dog, Juanita Guellro is safe after this abandoned home next to her's caught fire at around 3 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

"My dog was barking and that's how we found out there was a fire," she said. "My boyfriend came out to see what was going on and we saw that the fire started at the front of the house."

She also says the fire quickly spread.

"It was really small at first and then, it just grew," she said. "If we didn't hear the dog barking, it would have been really bad."

Avondale fire says this was one of three house fires within 12 hours. Two mobile homes right next to each other caught fire a mile down the road.

"We're not ruling anything out," Avondale fire division Chief Ben Avitia said. "They could possibly be connected, they could possibly be coincidental fires."

All the homes were vacant and neighbors say this home has been empty for at least two years.

Firefighters are calling is suspicious and they say the fire started outside the home and worked toward the structure and neighbors confirm that suspicion with the help of recently installed surveillance cameras.

"There was a guy that went into the yard and threw something and then he took off running," Juanita said.

Guellro installed four surveillance cameras around her house a month ago and she says two cameras on the side of her home caught the suspect in action.

"I only saw one person, there was a truck, the person jumped out of the truck, took off and the guy who lit the fire, it was just himself and like i said, you can see the little burst of flame on the video and then he took off running," she said.

Juanita says she's working with police to help them capture the suspect or suspects.

If you have any information on these fires, please call Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS.