The fire at the former Concord Chemical Company is being treated as a crime scene and at least 20 specialized agents are working on it in addition to local and state investigators.
The building was classified as a Superfund site and more than a million dollars was spent cleaning it up. The work was finished just last month and even though it was sealed fire officials say it was broken into numerous times.
"This building has been re-boarded three times in a week. So they board it up, somebody takes it off," said Camden Police Chief Michael Harper.
Sunday's fire was the third major multi-alarm blaze in an abandoned warehouse or factory in a 10-day period. On Thursday June 9th, 12 alarms were struck at a former tire warehouse, destroying the structure and displacing 20 families from nearby homes. Two days later an 8-alarmer raged through a former factory.
Gene Aikens has lived near the site of Sunday's 6-alarm fire for 68 years.
"Everybody in my neighborhood says arson. I would say somebody's got a vendetta, because they're only picking on big buildings. Vacant buildings at that," he said.
The Camden Fire and Police Departments are short on manpower because of layoffs due to budget cuts. These fires are testing their resolve, although they are getting the traditional help from the mutual aid of other towns.
In the absence of hard facts, though, there is much speculation as to the causes of all three fires. Investigators are certainly looking at the possibility that the three are related.
