For the third time since late spring, a fraternity house was set on fire by an arsonist.

The latest victim was the Alpha Gamma Rho house where firefighters responded to two separate calls early Saturday.

According to Chico Fire Department Inspector Marie Fickert, arson is the suspected cause of the fire that was initially put out on the first visit to the house at Second and Ivy streets.

Fickert said the first call was received just after 1 a.m. when a neighbor spotted a mattress on fire near the south side of the building. A passerby was able to extinguish the flame with a hose and firefighters added additional water.

It was just after 4:30 a.m. when the second call came in from the same neighbor saying the fence and part of the house was on fire. Nine engines responded to the call and arrived to find the only tenant home had left the building. Firefighters then checked each of the 13 rooms and found no one.

Keith Michaels, a sophomore at Chico State University, was one of the first to arrive to see the house he has only lived in for a week on fire.

"It's done. It's all gone. I'm homeless," he said Saturday as he helped salvage anything he could from the burnt house. "I lost all my stuff."

Of the three men who were currently living in the house, Kevin Scott lost the least. His room is downstairs in the back of the house and only received water damage, but he is still missing his dog and cat.

"I just moved in this summer. It was one of the only places I could have a dog and a cat," the Chico State senior said. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

Alpha Gamma Rho does have insurance on the house, but none of the tenants have renters' insurance. The home, purchased by the fraternity from Chico State in 1967, was formerly a women's dormitory.

The fire marked the third time in four months a fraternity house was a victim of arson. In May, Delta Si Delta lost an outbuilding after a fire was started in a nearby trash bin and is still unsolved. Late last month the Tau Gamma Theta house was burnt by a 20-year-old pledge who was arrested after questioning.

Anyone with information on subjects in the area around the time of either fire or anyone who witnessed fires anywhere in Chico Saturday morning are urged to call 895-4912.