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Police: Arson Not Cause Of Garage Fires

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Three garage fires that burned within a block of each other in the Roseland neighborhood early Monday were ruled to not be a case of arson after all, police said.

The findings came after police initially declared the fires were likely set by an arsonist.

The fires, reported about 1:30 a.m., all occurred in a one-block radius of each other, in the area of West 99th and South State streets, police said.

Two of the garages stand near West 99th and South State streets. Another garage and a trashcan caught fire a block west, near West 99th Street and South Lafayette Avenue, police said.

The extent of damage caused by the fires was not immediately known.

Police said that the Bomb and Arson Unit determined a "careless use of materials" –not arson – was the cause of the blazes.

No one was injured by the fires.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.).

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