A construction crew tasked with demolishing metal staircases at the vacant Carver Terrace apartment complex inadvertently sparked a fire that took several hours to extinguish Wednesday afternoon.

Port Arthur Firefighters responded to the scene shortly after 3 p.m. in the 1400 block of Dewalt.

Battalion Chief Jay Fountain said the fire was in a wall behind the brick and to extinguish the fire, bricks had to be removed.

This is the second fire at the vacant complex.

Port Arthur Fire Department responded to a Jan. 11 fire at the apartments in which the roof of one of the buildings was destroyed. PAFD was on scene at this fire for five hours.

The apartment complex was tagged for demolition three years ago and its residents moved out to other areas