By Patrick Ronan
The Patriot Ledger
QUINCY, Mass. — Federal investigators are working closely with state and local fire officials to help catch the person or people behind a recent string of suspicious fires in southeastern Massachusetts.
Since September, at least 15 fires have been set in unoccupied or abandoned buildings in communities south of Boston. Eight blazes have torched buildings in South Shore towns, including Quincy, Weymouth, Kingston and Hanson.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives got involved once it became apparent that several of the fires were set intentionally.
“We bring a unique set of resources,” Deb Seifert, spokeswoman for the bureau, said. “We have special agents who are certified in fire investigations, we have accelerant-detecting canine dogs, we have chemists, forensic auditors and the Fire Research Laboratory.”
The Fire Research Laboratory, based in Maryland, is a first-of-its-kind facility where investigators duplicate fire scenes to determine the cause and origin of a blaze.
“We use cutting-edge resources. We’re really on the forefront,” Seifert said.
Seifert wouldn’t say whether any of the local fires were being studied at the lab.
David Icove, a former FBI agent with an extensive background in profiling serial arsonists, said fires set by serial arsonists typically become increasingly more difficult to investigate. Icove, a professor at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, has co-authored several books on fire investigations.
“The problem with a serial arsonist is, the more fires they set, the better they get at concealing them, and they leave less and less evidence behind,” Icove said.
In the 1980s, Icove helped the FBI develop a new scientific system helping authorities catch serial arsonists. This fall, Icove helped a sheriff’s department in Tennessee catch five people suspected of setting 26 fires.
Although Icove is not involved in the probe into the Massachusetts fires, he expects that the offender or offenders will become more brazen.
“It always escalates, and the pattern becomes more life-threatening and serious,” he said. “They start small and they escalate to larger and larger buildings, and they move from unoccupied to possibly occupied buildings.”
On Wednesday, the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts, a union that represents more than 12,000 firefighters in the state, announced a $5,000 award for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the recent fires. Anyone with information should call the Arson Hotline at 1-800-682-9229.
Jennifer Mieth, spokeswoman for the state Department of Fire Services, said the hotline has received some helpful tips. She wouldn’t say if there are any solid leads.
“We’re not prepared to disclose that information until we catch the suspect or suspects,” she said.
Copyright 2012 The Patriot Ledger