The Youngstown Fire Department is investigating a suspicious house fire that lit up the sky over the city’s South Side early Wednesday.

Crews from several fire stations were called just after midnight to a two-story home on West Lucius Avenue between Market and Hillman Streets.

The first firefighter to arrive found flames covering the home.

The fire was so far along, that firefighters decided all they could do was let it burn and keep flames from spreading to neighboring homes.

A witness told an ambulance crew on the scene that a male was seen carrying a can of gasoline shortly before the fire broke out. The fire department is investigating the allegation

The home was a total loss.