No one had been living at this one-story Center Township house that was damaged by a fire Wednesday night. The blaze is being investigated by the state police fire marshal.

CENTER TWP — The state police fire marshal is investigating a suspicious blaze Wednesday night that damaged a vacant house known for its elaborate Christmas-light display from holidays past.

No one had been living at the one-story house on the 500 block of Sunset Drive at Mercer Road for a while, authorities said, and there were no utilities hooked up to it.

A passerby called 911 around 11 p.m. to report seeing flames coming from the brick and stone house with vinyl siding. Mike Plugh, chief of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Company, was first to get there.

“The fire was confined to the window of a corner bedroom,” Plugh said. Crews laid a hose line from a hydrant on nearby Route 8, and sprayed water through the window.

An attack crew a short time later forced in the locked front door and got into the house to battle the blaze, which was under control within minutes of firefighters' arrival, Pflugh said.

Fire and water damage was contained to the corner bedroom, but there was smoke damage throughout the house.

Fire officials said while the home had been vacant, there were still miscellaneous household items inside, including a mattress, night stand and dresser in the same bedroom where flames were first reported.

There also was garbage in the house, and empty food containers in the kitchen that raised some suspicion that squatters may have been there.

Fire department officials said the fire is believed to be suspicious because the house was vacant and there were no utilities connected to it.

Trooper Sean Christofferson, a deputy fire marshal, was assigned to investigate the fire. He did not immediately return a telephone call Thursday.

Anthony Amendolea, the township's secretary/treasurer, said Thursday that he does not know who owns the house.

According to the township's records and the Butler County Assessment Office, the last listed owners were Wallace and Hazel Webb. Wallace died in 2015 and his wife, Hazel, died in 2018.

The township's code enforcement officer was not available Thursday, Amendolea said.

A warning sign taped to a front window on the house advised that it was a vacant and/or unsecured property.

Taped to the front door was a copy of a consumer credit/mortgage foreclosure complaint filed in Butler County Court. The complaint was served Jan. 28, 2020, according to the document.

Neighbors and motorists traveling Sunset Drive are familiar with the house for its once grand outdoor Christmas display that included countless lights and decorations that seemed to grow bigger with each passing year.

The house was damaged in February 2017 when a car crashed into it after the driver apparently suffered a medical emergency. The car struck the stone front, spilling debris, dishes and books onto the front lawn.

Hazel Webb and her daughter were at the home when the accident occurred. The 69-year-old driver was injured, but no one in the house was hurt.