With Michael Silvas Sr. locked in a Lake County Jail cell, a fire broke out in his East Chicago home early Tuesday just hours before a Lake County sheriff's deputy arrived to evict him.

The home at 4206 Tod Ave. was the residence of Silvas Sr., who since May 7 has been embroiled in legal wranglings stemming from the shooting death of his 7-year-old grandson, Angel.

Police said the boy died in a gang-fueled gunfight just blocks away from the home at 4206 Tod Ave.

Ever since Silvas Sr. and his son, Michael Silvas Jr., were arrested for their alleged roles in the May 7 gun battle, the home on Tod has been raided by police, shuttered by the city building department and foreclosed on by a mortgage company. Tuesday morning, it caught fire.

An East Chicago police incident report filed Tuesday morning labeled the fire "possible arson" because the fire broke out even though the home was apparently uninhabited, East Chicago police Sgt. Michael Bork told The Times on Tuesday. City officials said the home was without electricity and natural gas.

But Bork said only the East Chicago Fire Department could officially rule the fire an arson. The chiefs of the fire and police departments did not return calls from The Times seeking comment Tuesday.

About 5 a.m. Tuesday, neighbors said the top floor of the home was filled with smoke and flames, and a hole had appeared in the front attic's window screen.

The fire was out after an hour, neighbors said. Then about 10:30 a.m., a team of workers sent by a mortgage company arrived with a Lake County sheriff's deputy to evict Silvas Sr. from the house -- apparently unaware that the building was burned.

Lake County police spokesman Mike Higgins said it is normal procedure for the department to dispatch deputies to homes for which judges have issued eviction orders.

Silvas Sr.'s grandson, Angel Silvas, was shot in the head during an armed street melee the day before May's primary election, in which Michael Silvas Jr. was a candidate for City Council.

Following the incident, Silvas Sr. said he believed the gunfight was politically motivated.

The police and neighborhood residents have said the battle was motivated by animus that Silvas Jr. had with the Latin Kings street gang. The Latin Kings are said to control the neighborhood, but Silvas left the gang several years ago to become a Spanish Vice Lord, police said.

The initials "S.V.L." are spray painted on the sides of several buildings in the area, including the shuttered store next to the former home of Silvas Sr.

On May 12, the day Silvas Sr. was arrested, police raided 4206 Tod Ave., city Building Commissioner Ernest Hagler said. The building department boarded up the home and placed "No Trespassing" signs on the doors that day, Hagler said.