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Jennifer Altenberg was worried but not exactly shocked when she woke up one morning earlier this month and discovered the boarded-up house across the street was on fire.

Her first thought was for the safety of anyone who might have been inside. Just because a house is officially unoccupied doesn’t mean there isn’t someone living in it, she said.

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Altenberg, who is president of the Pleasant Hill Community Association, says her thoughts then turned to her young daughter. Altenberg worried she would hear the inevitable sirens.

“You’re surprised, but you’re not surprised,” she said of the fire, one of at least eight reported in unoccupied and boarded-up houses on Saskatoon’s west side since March 24.

“There’s always fires in Pleasant Hill. This has been an ongoing thing for a long time … It’s just an unsettling feeling to know that there is more and more boarded-up houses catching fire.”

Photo by Saskatoon Fire Department / Saskatoon

Saskatoon Fire Department assistant chief Wayne Rodger described the recent string of fires in unoccupied homes as “abnormal,” a point echoed by local community members.