Fire officials say Germantown YWCA blaze intentionally set

The cause of the fire which spread inside Germantown’s former women’s YWCA building at 5820 Germantown Ave. on Friday has been deemed “incendiary” in nature, Philadelphia Fire Department Executive Chief Richard Davison said Monday.

“Our fire marshals will continue to investigate,” Davison said. The fire department had no information on the extent of the damage. Officials would not publicly label it a case of “arson.”

Though there were no injuries at the scene last week — the fire started in a rear room on the fourth floor — a Oct. 2010 fire in the building which was deemed “suspicious” left two firefighters hurt.