Arsons decimate block of Hartzell on West Side

YOUNGSTOWN

Endless chirping in the 1600 block of Hartzell Avenue is not from birds returning to the lower West Side for the spring.

Instead, it’s the smoke alarm with dead batteries in the burned-out house next door to Mike Woloshak.

That twist of fate is not lost on Woloshak, who lives on a block where more than half a dozen arsons have taken place in the last year and a half, the last on March 2.

“It’s ironic,” Woloshak said.

Woloshak lives at ground zero at what is left of the 1600 block. He has two burned out homes next to him and two across the street that also suffered fire damage that have yet to be demolished. More empty or damaged and abandoned homes line the block than occupied ones, not counting the 12 vacant lots that were once filled with homes.

Capt. Kurt Wright, head of the fire department’s Fire Investigation Unit, said the Blue Ribbon Arson Committee is offering a reward for information leading to a suspect in the latest arsons.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.