BATON ROUGE - Early Wednesday (Jan. 13.) morning, a fire was intentionally set in a town home situated just north of Florida Boulevard, near Windsor Place. 

Officials with the Baton Rouge Fire Department say they rushed to the 12300 block of Cate Avenue, which is off Marque Ann Drive, twice in matter of hours.

The first time they pulled up to the town home where a fire had been reported, they found a small blaze in an unoccupied unit. 

An investigator was called to the scene, and after an analysis, determined that the fire had been intentionally set.

Shortly after this, fire officials were summoned to the same unit a second time.

But this time it was absolutely engulfed in flames.

Officials say two people who lived in an adjoining unit were able to escape unharmed.

According to BRFD, firefighters tried to enter the residence but found themselves unable to access the second floor as the stairs had been utterly decimated by flames.

So, the first responders moved on to plan B, which involved the use of a master stream (truck mounted nozzle) to get the fire under control.

The fire extinguished by about 4:30 a.m.

Officials say the structure sustained about $75,000 in damages and is considered a total loss.

Red Cross was called to assist the residents and according to investigators, the second, more dangerous fire, was also the work of an arsonist. 

Anyone with information about this intentionally set blaze is urged to contact Baton Rouge Fire Investigators at 225-354-1419.