A weekend fire at Americana Tire and Wheel in West Manchester Township has been ruled arson. It's the third case of arson at the business in the last year and a half. Detectives in the West Manchester Police Department said it's too early to tell if the fires are linked.

Firefighters were called to Americana Tire on West Market Street around 11:30 Saturday night. Flames were reported to be shooting out of the roof.

Investigators said they found several different places inside the building where it appears the fire started, which is one of the factors that led them to believe it was arson. They said it didn't appear that anyone broke into the building.

In December 2006 two cases of arson happened at the building in less than a week. No arrests were made.

"It's too early in the investigation for us to say whether the fires are related to 2006," said Detective Jeff Snell of the West Manchester Police.

The company's operations manager, Jim Sechrist, said he's sick over the destruction. He said he thinks someone has a fascination not with the Americana building but with the company itself. The damage is estimated at $2.5 million.

Police officials said they will be interviewing perhaps all the company's 20 employees. They have no leads. Anyone with information is asked to call them at 792-9514.

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