Police and fire department officials are still looking for suspects in four arsons that occurred in the University District early Friday morning.

Four fires were set in roughly the same area between 5:15 a.m. and 7 a.m. Friday, leading Seattle Fire Department investigators to believe the incidents are connected, said spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick.

The worst of the fires occurred at a house at 5206 11th Ave. N.E., causing $250,000 in damage to the building's structure and an additional $100,000 to its contents.

About the same time at 52nd Street and 12th Avenue, mattresses underneath the deck of a house were set on fire, causing about $36,000 in damage.

Shortly afterward, two dumpsters were lit on fire in an alley between University Way Northeast and Brooklyn Avenue Northeast, and investigators found a scorch mark on the porch of a house near 42nd Street and Brooklyn Avenue.

No one was injured in any of the blazes.

Detectives from the Seattle Police Department's arson and bomb squad are assisting the Seattle Fire Department to solve the series of crimes, said police spokesman Sean Whitcomb.

No suspect description is available at this time, Whitcomb said.

Residents of the heavily damaged house at 5206 11th Avenue had trouble understanding the arsonist's motivation, said UW alumnus Joshua Webb, who lived in the house along with five other students and recent graduates.

Investigators determined that blaze began when someone set fire to a couch on the house's front porch.

"I can't believe someone would light a couch on fire at 5:30 in the morning," Webb said. "What did they think would happen?"

Webb and his roommates spent much of the day Friday moving out their undamaged belongings.

"This was a good house while it lasted," said sophomore Doug Santschi. "We're trying to find a six bedroom house in the U-District somewhere, but this time of year it's hard."

Reporter Melissa Santos: melissasantos@thedaily.washington.edu