Fire badly damages Eminem's Detroit childhood home... which features on album cover for new LP A fire has left Eminem's childhood home badly damaged. The home, which features on the cover of the rapper's newly-released album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, set fire at around 6.20pm on Thursday. Fire crews attended the scene of the Detroit property, situated near to the 8 Mile, and managed to contain the blaze to the second floor before it spread. Burned out: The fire-damaged childhood home of rapper Eminem in Detroit which features on the cover of his latest album Album artwork: Eminem's childhood home in Detroit, which features on the cover of his new album, was badly damaged by fire on Thursday evening At this stage it is unclear how the fire started, but the property has been left badly damaged, officials told TMZ. The city of Detroit averages about 14 arsons a day and continues to be a problem since the city only has 11 arson investigators, according to Reuters. Musical comeback: The rapper, seen here backstage at the YouTube Music Awards earlier this month Eminem's mother Deborah Mathers bought the house in 1987 for $19,900, but it has been bought and resold around 10 times since then. It was ultimately abandoned, going into foreclosure in 2001, and failed to sell for $500 at a recent auction. It is now owned by The Michigan Land Bank - a government programme which manages 11,000 of the vacant, derelict properties in the former Motor City. The 41-year-old rap star is on course to top the US Billboard 200 chart this week with his eighth studio album, a sequel to his 2000 classic The Marshall Mathers LP. Industry insiders are predicting it will sell around 750,000 copies by the end of this weekend. Meanwhile, Eminem - real name Marshall Bruce Mathers III - said in a recent interview that reading people's comments on social media platforms can often waste time and be 'counter-productive' as they spark arguments. But he admitted he still finds himself reading these posts. Speaking on SiriusXM radio, he said: 'I really try not to pay attention [to social media platforms.] Put it this way, I want to keep my finger on the pulse of what's going on, so I don't want to be ignorant in that sense. 'But at the same time, I can't pay attention to what everyone is saying. 'I would never be able to make music, I don't think, if I got caught up in that. 'Because I would probably get caught up in some ugly arguments with people.'Yo, drive to my house now.' It would consume a lot of my time and it would be very counter-productive for me to do that. But I still do, and that's what's f***ed up.' Abandoned: The property was foreclosed in 2001 and failed to sell at a recent auction