photo: WAVY
An arsonist is on the loose in the Delmarva peninsula, east of Washington DC.
The unknown arsonist has already burned more than 70 structures since November and authorities are at a loss as to who could be the perpetrator.
In what is the worst arson case in Easter US history, the Fire authorities have already racked up more than 130,000 dollars in costs fighting the fires.
The arsonist seems to operate mostly in the Saturday to Monday bracket, when a higher concentration of arsons occurs.
Multiple agencies have been assigned to the investigation of the case, which seems to be consuming the fire authorities' time. The FBI and ATF are also helping solve the case.
The buildings the arsonist targets so far have been unoccupied, and some are buildings that were unstructurally sound.
But the arsonist is a cunning perpetrator. So far, he has left absolutely no clues to his identity and has taken steps to evade detection from the investigating authorities. The fires are started through a process that takes almost two hours to bring the fire about, leaving the arsonist ample time to flee. What these techniques are that delay onset of the fire, the department are not discussing for security reasons.
What the authorities are concerned with at this time, is to make an arrest before the arsonist is emboldened enough to consider setting fire to structures that are inhabited.
Some citizens are voicing suspicions that such expertise in setting the fires could point to a person with extensive knowledge of arson, such as a firefighter of policeman, or even someone who has served in the military. This is reminiscent of a famous case in California of a serial arsonist who indeed turned out to be an arson investigator in the local Fire Fighting force.
But some people are pointing the finger at local authorities who are not diligent in the demolition of structures that are unfit for habitation or crumbling, and believe that the arsonist has a grudge against the authorities and taking matters into his own hands.
What worries others is that the fires are becoming more frequent but also larger in scale. There are in fact 700 structures in the arsonist's area of criminal operation which could become targets for his actions.
One of the fires spread to a nearby home, and hit an over the ground gas tank, which caused 50,000 dollars in damages to the home. Oddly enough the homeowner said that the arsonist also let her chickens out of the coop in the backyard before setting the fire. This would indicate that the arsonist is still careful not to set fire to inhabited structures.
All fires have been set at night. Another detail that has surfaced is that multiple fires have been set in some nights, so that the authorities believe that it might be more than one individual operating in this serial arson spree.
What is more worrisome to the authorities however, is that the serial arson has being ongoing for months and that in the entire time there has not been a single eyewitness to come forward with any information.
Source: Eastern Shore News/ 3.19.13 - Wash. Post/3.20.13
No comments:
Post a Comment