NATCHEZ &8212; In a city that prides itself on its historical appearances, open abandoned houses can be more than unsightly &045; they can be dangerous.

Alderman James &8220;Rickey&8221; Gray said he is concerned about abandoned houses in his district that do not have windows and doors boarded up. He brought up the topic at Tuesday&8217;s alderman meeting and urged the board to do something.

A couple abandoned houses caught fire recently, and that has him worried.

&8220;Nobody lives in them,&8221; Gray said. &8220;There&8217;s no electricity, nothing in them. It&8217;s strange that a house with no utilities catches fire. That leads me to believe somebody is going in those houses and either smoking or setting them on fire.&8221;

Natchez Fire Chief Paul Johnson said Gray was on the right track.

&8220;Once in a while, we have vagrants snooping in these abandoned houses. We had a couple of (houses) catch fire, and they were fully involved when we got there,&8221; Johnson said of the fires on College Street Sunday morning and Spruce Street Sept. 6. &8220;They are under investigation. We suspect arson,&8221; he said.

Johnson said the fire department responded to calls of abandoned houses on fire occasionally. The last time they responded to such a call was six or seven months ago, he said.

Natchez Police Chief Mike Mullins said open abandoned houses were a hazard and a violation of city code. Windows should be boarded, doors locked, and no one should be able to make entry without a key, he said.

&8220;People hide in these houses, sometimes people addicted to controlled substances use the houses,&8221; Mullins said. &8220;Sometimes a fire is started, someone may light a match or drop cigarettes. It can be a serious problem.&8221;

Mullins recommended anyone with an empty house should check it once a month to make sure it is still secure. If anyone suspected someone had been in his house, they should call the police and get an officer to go into the house with them.

Alderman Gray said he would like to see the problem fixed soon.

&8220;Either we need to board up the houses or put money in our budget to tear them down,&8221; Gray said. &8220;They&8217;re dangerous. I&8217;ve talked with elderly people who are scared to go to sleep at night because they think they&8217;ve got people setting houses on fire intentionally.&8221;