By Stephanie Summers
Hartford Courant (Connecticut)
Copyright 2006 The Hartford Courant Company
All Rights Reserved
Authorities are investigating whether there is a connection among fires that have burned six outbuildings in eastern Connecticut in recent weeks, including at least four that were arson.
The latest fire destroyed a storage shed Tuesday at a home in Coventry and was deliberately set, town Fire Marshal Noel Waite said Wednesday. No arrests have been made in any of the incidents.
Waite and local police and fire officials in Coventry, Mansfield, Ashford and Chaplin are coordinating with state police and their major crime squad and with state fire marshals to investigate the fires that date from Oct. 10. The first three fires occurred during National Fire Prevention Week.
The Coventry fire destroyed the shed and its contents at the home of Mildred Perunko at 39 Willimantic Turnpike. The shed was full of lawn equipment and tools, Waite said. The possibility of a connection to the other five fires remains under investigation, but there are similarities, Waite said.
Fire officials have determined that four of the six blazes were intentionally set, but details are not being released as investigators piece together the evidence and possible suspects.
“I know there are a lot of rumors out in the neighborhood,” Mansfield Fire Marshal John Jackman said Wednesday. “It would be nice to influence the rumor mill, but that’s out of my control.”
Asked if some of the rumors are false, he said, “Yeah.”
All of the fires, which have occurred at various times of the day, have broken out in barns or storage buildings, risking some harm to animals and little to nearby humans. But “anytime you deploy public safety resources, such as police and firefighters, you are placing people at risk,” Jackman said.
The Ashford Volunteer Fire Department website reported that one firefighter was treated for minor injuries in a blaze Monday that burned a garage and workshop on Route 44 near a Cumberland Farms store. The origin of that fire is undetermined.
The first three fires occurred over three days: Oct. 10, at a barn at the junction of Warrenville and Mount Hope roads in Mansfield, undetermined cause; Oct. 11, at a hunting cabin on Tower Hill Cutoff in Chaplin, arson; and Oct. 12, at a chicken coop on Warrenville Road in Mansfield, arson.
An Oct. 25 fire in a child’s playhouse on Warrenville Road in Mansfield was determined to be arson.
Investigators ask that residents call 911 or the arson tip line, 800-842-7766, to report unusual behavior. All information is kept confidential.
“If something seems out of place or out of the ordinary, it probably is,” Jackman said. “Even if it’s not a big deal, let us know.”