HOUSTON — Investigators are looking for the person who they said intentionally set fire to an art warehouse in Sawyer Yards Tuesday.
This caused severe damage to most of the artwork inside the building at Winter Street Studio.
The warehouse is home to dozen of local artists and some of the artwork inside was worth thousands of dollars. Since the fire, artists have started pulling out some of their work, hoping a few pieces could be salvaged. Most of it had a very strong smell of smoke.
Investigators said they believe someone intentionally went inside the building and started the fire that broke out at about 6:30 a.m. Sadly, the studio where the fire started was burned completely and nothing inside could be saved. Many of the art studios that were next to the origin of the fire also had serious damage.
"This is a slap in the face for us, this guy whoever he is spit in our hearts," said local artist Gretchen McDaniel.
READ: Fire that destroyed several art studios in Sawyer Yards was intentionally set, firefighters say
The Houston Arts Alliance is trying to raise funds to help the artist who lost it all. Many of the artists in Sawyer Yards earn their living from the work they do inside the warehouse, and now some have nowhere to go.
You can donate to the artist who lost their work here.
As for the investigation, it's unclear what kind of charges the suspect faces but investigators are actively trying to track them down.