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‘Random’ arsons keep city fire officials busy
YOUNGSTOWN
Arson has destroyed at least 10 vacant houses in the city during the past week in what Fire Chief John J. O’Neill Jr. says seems to be “completely random.”
“We don’t think we have one or two guys running around setting fires,” O’Neill said. “There’s no pattern.”
When asked if that’s worse than having a firebug, O’Neill said, “Yeah, it is. We don’t have a cause as to why this is happening. They’re so sporadic. We’re going east. We’re going south. We’re going north.”
Two arsons destroyed vacant houses early Saturday.
Someone “fire bombed” a two-story structure at 715 Fairgreen Ave. at 1:21 a.m. Saturday, according to a fire report. Firefighters found a “flammable substance” that was thrown into that house that quickly spread down the cellar steps and up through a hole from a prior fire to the second floor.
The house, worth only $2,000, was a total loss.
Less than an hour before, at 12:44 a.m., firefighters responded to a blaze at 90 E. Evergreen Avenue. The two-story structure was burning when firefighters arrived. They let the house, worth $4,000, burn to the ground.
Firefighters also responded to a couple of cases of arson at vacant houses Friday.
At 9:52 p.m. Friday, arson destroyed a vacant house, worth $2,000, at 1025 Erie St., and the house next to it at 1023 Erie St., worth about the same.
The “houses were so engulfed that they collapsed within minutes of our arrival,” the fire report reads.
Firefighters made sure the fires didn’t reach an occupied house at 1015 Erie St.
Firefighters limited the damage to a house at 215 Steel St. to $4,500. The house is worth $36,320, according to a fire department report. A flammable liquid caused the fire, which was reported at 10:55 a.m. Friday, the report states.
That house, which has about 10 rental units, doesn’t fit the profile of the other arsons, O’Neill said, as it is larger than the others and the fire was set during daylight hours. The others happened in the dark.
The Steel Street house is vacant, though a fire report states it appeared someone was living there with only the water turned on.