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Texas Arson Suspects Described

A STRING OF AT LEAST NINE CHURCH FIRES in east Texas are believed to have been set by the same person/people. The fires have been set in three counties, Henderson, Smith, and Van Zandt. A tenth church was recently set in Temple, but it is not yet known if it is related to the others.

The churches are of various denominations, so there no connection there. Investigators are puzzled over the motive for the fires which have been set since January 1, but in some of the fires there have been some non-religious items taken.

The Associated Press filed this video update:

Friday the ATF issued this press release:

TYLER, Texas — Robert Champion, Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), released three composite sketches of individuals that investigators would like to identify and interview in relation to the some of the church arsons that have occurred in the Henderson, Smith and Van Zandt Counties since January 1.

Law enforcement is soliciting the help of the public, said Champion. Anyone that can identify the individuals in the composite sketches is encouraged to call us and assist with the investigation.

Several tip lines have been established to receive calls around the clock: 1 (888) ATF-FIRE (888-283-3473); (903) 675-0061 and (903) 675-0062. ATF has offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

This investigation is being conducted by ATF, Texas Department of Public Safety, Athens Fire Marshal’s Office, Henderson County Fire Marshal’s Office, Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office, Tyler Fire Marshal’s Office and the Van Zandt County Fire Marshal’s Office.

We have reproduced the sketches here:

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suspect c

CNN has posted this video showing the impact on the expanded community:

Posted by firegeezer on February 13, 2010 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, Fires, Videos, arson • Tagged: arson suspects, ATF, Texas church arsons

Home Explosion Severely Injures Teen

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A DELMAR, NEW YORK, NEIGHBORHOOD WAS ROCKED by an explosion shortly before noon on Friday coming from a modest house in the Albany-area community. The woman who lives there with her teenage son called 9-1-1 to report the blast just as fire was starting up. First on the scene were two police officers who were met with heavy smoke coming from the house and just then two more explosions occurred.

Apparently learning from the uninjured lady that her son was inside in the basement, the officers went inside where they found the boy and pulled him out of the house. The 15-yr.-old was suffering from severe burns over his body and had lost a hand in the blast.

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Times-Union / Tom Heffernan photo

When the fire units arrived on the scene, they decided on caution, not knowing what was causing the explosions, and stayed outside concentrating on protecting the exposures. Smaller explosions continued for a while as the house burned down. WRGB-TV reports:

The two town police officers who rescued the boy, along with two paramedics, were treated for “possible exposure to an unknown chemical,” police said. HAZMAT crews were reportedly decontaminating every emergency responder.

A paramedic told Heffernan that the basement was “filled with several chemicals,” while another emergency responder said that rocket fuel may have been among them. Agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives were investigating whether the chemicals were being used in the production of an explosive device.

The Albany Times-Union has MORE.

WXXA-TV Ch. 23 has this video report with good fire footage:

Posted by firegeezer on December 20, 2009 • Filed under: Fires, HazMat, Videos, explosion • Tagged: Albany, ATF, chemicals, Delmar New York, explosion, fire, rocket fuel

Morning Lineup – November 30

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Some of you probably stayed away from the computer over the long Thanksgiving Day break and missed Rodney Gentry’s fine article on Wednesday about using Verizon’s new Droid service in a fire/ems setting. He expects to have a follow-up later on incorporating some other apps and passing on your ideas and experiences with it, too.

So take about four minutes this morning to read his posting HERE (and scroll on down through the Comments, too), and get in on the discussion. His email address is in the article.

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No real surprise here, but I thought I’d pass on the news that the ATF has officially declared that the large fire in the Rochester Family Dollar store was intentionally set, and a $5,000 reward is being offered for information about who set it. (See Firegeezer reports HERE and HERE.) The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported yesterday (HERE) that:

Chris Porreca of the ATF said 16 investigators from throughout the country completed a “painstaking” investigation, with help from eight local investigators.

Porreca said investigators have determined where the fire started in the Family Dollar, but he would not release the information while the local investigation is ongoing.

Rochester Fire Chief John Caufield said his department has not linked the North Clinton fire with a fire that occurred earlier the same day at a Family Dollar store on North Goodman Street. ATF agents did not investigate that fire.

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Do you remember our chat last Friday about the S & H green stamps? (HERE) One of the unique gimmicks of the S & H company was their willingness to get almost anything that you wanted to exchange your stamp books for. People used them to get vacation trips to Disneyland and churches ran collections to get enough books for a new social room kitchen, for example.

One of our readers pointed out that his VFD had a campaign to collect stamp books and they accumulated enough to get a new pumper for the firehouse. They acquired stamps worth $17,000 and purchased a new 1963 Howe/International 750 gpm pumper with a 500-gal. tank.

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How about that? You can visit the Rowley (Massachusetts) FD website HERE and read up on the history of Engine 3.

Now we had better bring our own histories up to date and get this equipment checked out. I’ll go start the coffee.

Posted by firegeezer on November 30, 2009 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: arson, ATF, Chris Porreca, Droid, Family Dollar, Fire Chief John Caufield, Rochester, Rowley Fire Department, S & H Green Stamps, Verizon

ATF Arrives at Dollar Store Fire Scenes

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THE FIRE THAT DESTROYED THE FAMILY DOLLAR STORE in Rochester, New York, Monday burned out 3/4 of the entire shopping plaza and the remainder might have to be demolished also. The FD estimates that damages will exceed $2 million at the 50-yr.-old shopping center that was built without a sprinkler system.

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WHAM-TV

WHAM -TV reported earlier today:

The ATF –Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives– was brought in Tuesday to investigate the connections between the Goodman fire, the North Clinton fire, and a fire at a store in Buffalo that occurred in October. (emphasis added by Firegeezer.)

The entire area has been secured by the RPD as investigators are just beginning their work. They are also combing throught security camera tapes from the parking lot and neighboring businesses.

Fire Chief held this impromptu press conference Monday as the fire was still in progress:

Posted by firegeezer on November 24, 2009 • Filed under: Fires, investigations • Tagged: ATF, Family Dollar, investigation, Rochester

“We Finally Got ‘em,”

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THOSE WERE THE WORDS OF NEW CASTLE (PENNSYLVANIA) FIRE CHIEF Thomas Maciarello as he announced to arrests of an arson ring that has plagued the town for two years. There have been more than 13o set fires in vacant buildings in the city since mid-2007 and the citizens have been on edge for the past year.

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WTAE-TV

WTAE-TV Pittsburgh reports:

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives became involved in the investigation about six weeks ago and played a role with New Castle authorities in breaking the case.

“They partnered very well with New Castle police, teamed up with their lead detective and conducted scores of interviews, analyzed the evidence and were integral in helping to obtain confessions from some of these folks,” said Jim Tanda, supervisor of the ATF’s Pittsburgh office.

While no serious injuries were ever reported, the city has been forced to pay overtime to firefighters and spend money to demolish some of the damaged buildings.

The intense investigation led to the arrests of six adults and two juveniles who are all incarcerated today. The police chief said that they usually worked in small groups of two to four people.

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WTAE-TV also filed this video report:

The Beaver County Times tells:

Back in August, a woman on Oak Street was up late one night and heard the sound of broken glass from a neighboring home. She called 911, which brought police to a home that was targeted for arson. This time though, police headed off the arson and apprehended three suspects.

Those arrests were the first step toward the arrests Tuesday of eight people suspected of setting 12 of the 34 confirmed arsons.

Sansone said police are continuing to investigate the fires, adding that some of those charged Tuesday may face additional charges and other people will probably be charged as well.

There is no indication yet as to what the motive was for this string of crimes. High bails have been set on all eight of the suspects and none of them have been able to meet the bail.