A fire at Fourth and Washington streets Tuesday evening was deliberately set, Ironton Fire Chief Tom Runyon said.

The fire at the old Boll Meat Market building across from the Briggs- Lawrence Library broke out just before 6:30 p.m. Runyon said 12 crews battled the blaze for more than three hours.

“The Ironton Fire Department and the Ironton Police Department and the State Fire Marshal’s Office do investigate fires in the city,” he said. “We hope this does deter acts of this sort. We hope to slow down and ultimately stop arson fires.”

Two second-floor apartments were occupied but no one was at home at the time of the fire.

This is the second arson fire in Lawrence County in the last two months. In June, fire destroyed an unoccupied house on Porter Gap Road.