By Elizabeth Evans
The York Dispatch (Pennsylvania)
Copyright 2007 York Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
YORK, Pa. — Three similar arsons in the south end of the city have sparked the concern of York City fire officials.
“There were a total of four fires (in the area),” Deputy Fire Chief Steven Buffington said. “The latest one we’ve cleared by arrest, but we can’t connect it to the other three.”
The first fire started at 1 a.m. Jan. 28 on South Newberry Street not far from the Cottage Place intersection.
Someone dragged a sofa into the middle of Newberry Street and torched it, Buffington said. Fire officials found a metal can there with an odor of flammable liquid inside, he said.
Fire officials noted there were no “cooperative witnesses” at the scene, and York College campus security officers were called to the area to assist.
Then at 12:23 a.m. Feb. 3, someone piled trash in the intersection of Jackson and Manor streets and set fire to it, he said.
The same thing happened at the same intersection about a week later, at 2:26 a.m. Feb. 11, Buffington said.
The fire department report for the Feb. 11 incident characterized it as “still another trash fire set in the street, apparently by York College students.”
College area affected: All three incidents happened in the early-morning hours during weekends.
“They’ve all occurred in the southwest end of the city, which we all tend to refer to as ‘the college area,’” Buffington said. “Can I say with certainty it’s college students? No. ... But it certainly gives you reason to think,
because of the area they’re occurring in and the time of night they’re occurring.”
Buffington said he’s taking the issue to the city’s Civil Enforcement Team, made up of various government departments and community agencies that address quality-of-life issues in the city.
“We need to try to stop this stupidity,” he said. “Sooner or later, someone is going to get hurt.”
A fourth fire, which happened at 2:53 a.m. Feb. 16 inside 310 W. Jackson St., ended in the arrest of a York College student but is not linked to the other fires, officials said.
Timothy John Kerns, 23, told police he set a roll of paper towels on fire, then threw them out a window and onto a lower roof of his home, according to York City Nuisance Abatement Officer William Wentz.
“He was cooperative and indicated he’d been drinking,” Wentz said.
Kerns was cited with summary disorderly conduct, Wentz said.
Dangers detailed: Buffington said torching trash or furniture in the street can be dangerous not only for the people doing it, but also for firefighters and others.
The first fire was dispatched as a structure fire, so firefighters rushed to the scene as quickly as possible, he said.
“There’s always an increased risk of accident or injury ... with an emergency response,” Buffington said -- to firefighters and to other drivers on the road.
“Plus it depletes the city’s fire-suppression forces,” Buffington said. “They could be delayed in responding to (a house fire) because they’re busy taking care of something some knucklehead found funny.”
Buffington said fire officials also have to look at whether the fires are being set by a compulsive fire-setter, who would likely need to set larger fires to get the satisfaction he or she craves.
“That’s not to say that’s the case,” he said. “But that thought is always at the back of your mind, especially because two of the fires are at the same location.”
Most students responsible: York City Mayor John Brenner said he’s aware of no evidence that proves the fires were set by college students.
“By and large, most of the college students who live in the city -- I’d say the vast majority -- are responsible,” he said. “It’s always one or two who make it bad for the rest, and I think it’s very important to point that out.”
Brenner predicted that city officials will track down the arsonists.
“Whoever’s doing this is going to get caught. It’s really just a matter of time,” he said.
York College spokesman David Salter said the college has so far only been made aware of the torched sofa incident.
“If charges are filed and we know who the students are ... we’ll certainly take disciplinary action and cooperate with any entity that’s investigating,” Salter said. “Our students aren’t immune from campus discipline just because they live off campus.”
Discipline can range from having the student attend a workshop related to the transgression, he said, or as severe as expulsion.