Ann Arbor Fire Department officials have ruled out natural causes for the fire that destroyed the former location of Pinball Pete’s late Saturday night.

“We have not found a natural cause for it so we’re looking at someone possibly causing the fire,” said Fire Marshall Kathleen Chamberlain in an interview yesterday afternoon.

Chamberlain said that it is clear the fire was man-made, but it remains to be seen if it was an accident or premeditated.

According to Battalion Chief Robert Voteo, the owners have reported that the abandoned building has been plagued with trespassing since it was vacated in 1995.

“There appears to have been relatively easy access despite the boarding up,” said Chamberlain.

While authorities did not specify who might have been inside the building, there is much speculation.

Lance Johnson, Pinball Pete’s manager, said it was likely that homeless people took refuge in the building.

Pinball Pete’s was located at 1217 S. University Street for 12 years before its move across in the street in 1995, Johnson said.

Johnson said the business moved in order to condense space. The building across the street was left empty.

“It has been abandoned since we left,” Johnson said. “I don’t know if it was condemned or not needed.”

The lot was sold in 2001 to the Tice Family Partnership for $700,000. The company also owns Pizza House, a popular campus restaurant located less than a block away.

The building was put back on the market in 2004 for $1.2 million but there were no bids on the new offer, according to city records.

It is unclear why the building remained unoccupied for such a long period of time.

Calls to the owners were not returned as of Monday evening.

The building, which caught fire just before 11 p.m. Saturday night and burned for almost an hour before firefighters could contain the flames, was left heavily damaged.

The roof of the structure entirely collapsed during the fire and the interior is almost completely gutted.

Chamberlain said it appears the fire began on a corner of an upper floor of the building. Once the fire began, the flames quickly permeated the building.

A major concern was that the flames would spread to University Towers, a heavily populated student housing apartment building located next door. Though the building was evacuated during the fire for safety purposes, only damage to the complex was a few broken windows and some smoke and water damage, according to University spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham.

The 600 displaced students Saturday night were allowed back into their homes within a few hours of the fire breaking out.

University Towers management did not inform residents when the building was reopened early Sunday morning and was unwilling to answer any questions Sunday afternoon.

But resident Navya Varshney, an LSA sophomore, said that the management had begun to provide answers on Monday.

A note was posted yesterday next to the elevators in the building asking residents to report any damage caused by the fire to the front desk.

Momo Tea, located on the other side of the burned building, has been closed since the fire due to damage in the kitchen. A sign on the door states they are doing reconstruction and will be open soon.

— Daily News Editor Matt Aaronson contributed to this report