By Kathleen Brady Shea
The Philadelphia Inquirer
COATESVILLE, Pa. — Maggie Pennington celebrated her birthday yesterday by standing in line at Coatesville City Hall alongside neighbors with frayed nerves.
The 61-year-old woman was one of 200 Coatesville residents who had come to pick up free motion-activated lights.
“I hope it helps make the day safe,” she said.
The giveaway was one of several efforts under way in Coatesville to thwart whoever has been lighting the fires that have plagued the 11,600 residents of the onetime steel town in Chester County.
“It takes some of the fright and fear away,” said Terras Harvey, 42, clutching the box containing her motion detector. “It’s still scary, though.”
Since Jan. 1, firefighters have battled 15 arsons. Over the weekend, four fires were set in communities within five miles of the city. Valley Township, which experienced two of them, immediately declared a state of emergency.
Coatesville declared its own state of emergency on Jan. 25, hours after a four-alarm fire gutted 15 rowhouses in the 300 block of Fleetwood Street, leaving more than 50 people homeless and causing nearly $2 million in damage.
For now, the lights are a recommended deterrent; however, officials have discussed making them mandatory. An additional 800 are to be distributed beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday, said Kristin Geiger, the city’s spokeswoman.
The city has banned parking on more than a dozen streets. Geiger said vehicles would be towed starting tomorrow to improve emergency access. The list of affected streets appears on Channel 66, the public-access cable-TV channel, she added.
Authorities in Coatesville have warned residents that they must clear porches of flammable materials, such as upholstered furniture, that have provided kindling for many of the blazes. If the residents do not clean up the porches, they have said, the city will.
Coatesville residents will get help with the cleanup from other Chester County communities.
West Bradford Township Manager Jack Hines has organized a trash task force that will operate from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. tomorrow in Coatesville.
“We’re hoping the people of Coatesville will assist by showing us what can be taken and helping to throw stuff in the truck,” he said.
Hines said township workers had been looking for a way to aid Coatesville. When they realized that food and clothing donations were no longer needed, they came up with the idea of helping to get rid of the combustible materials. Hines sent an e-mail to other Chester County municipalities and to businesses seeking help for the cleanup. “It’s become a real community effort,” he said.
Special Agent John Hageman, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, part of the multiagency task force investigating the arsons, said yesterday that investigators had not yet determined whether the weekend arsons were linked to those wracking Coatesville.
Over the last year, arsonists have set at least 30 fires in Coatesville. In December, police arrested three people believed responsible for at least a dozen fires, including one that killed an 83-year-old woman on Dec. 7. The fires have continued though the three defendants remain in custody.
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