By James Mayse
Messenger-Inquirer
OWENSBORO, Ky. — Units from multiple city fire stations and several police officers were called to neighborhoods near Tamarack Road early Tuesday morning after multiple fires were reported in vehicles and on property.
Intentionally-set fires involving vehicles, a bicycle and a baby crib were reported between 4:10 and 5:14 a.m. on Sir Wren Court, Buckland Square, Bulfinch Avenue, Palladio Avenue and Rudy Martin Drive, according to Owensboro Police Department reports. A home sustained minor damage when an item next to the home was set on fire.
The fires caused an estimated $5,000 in damage to a pickup truck on Sir Wren Court and a similar amount of damage to a car. A second pickup truck sustained about $2,000 in damage, police reports say. A shed on Bullfinch Court had $1,500 in damage.
Sgt. Richard Glenn, a public information officer for OPD, said the first fire was reported after a man heard a dog barking, looked outside and saw the inside of his pickup truck on fire. Later, a police officer on his way to a fire report in the area saw another vehicle on fire, which appeared to have just started, Glenn said.
“There’s no reason ... to believe these (aren’t) related,” Owensboro Fire Department Chief Steve Mitchell said.
While firefighters were at the first vehicle fire, the second was called in from “right around the corner,” Mitchell said.
“We had four fire stations out there” responding to calls, Mitchell said.
The bicycle and baby crib were in carports, and a house in the 4100 block of Rudy Martin Drive sustained minor damage when the crib was set ablaze, police reports say. Some of the fires were put out by police officers and with fire extinguishers, Mitchell said.
Mitchell said investigators did not know what was used to start the fires.
The rash of fires put a strain on the fire department, he said.
“I hate to call these nuisance fires (because) you’re taking units away” from their assigned fire stations, Mitchell said. “We’re lucky we didn’t have any other calls during that hour, and we’re lucky we didn’t have any houses on fire.
“It’s obviously suspicious,” Mitchell said.
Glenn said there was no obvious connection between any of the homes or vehicles involved in the fires.
In early April, two storage shed fires were reported within 45 minutes of each other on Legacy Run and Shyrock Avenue, both of which are very close to the area affected by Tuesday’s fires. The April fires were ruled arsons and no one has been charged in those incidents, Glenn said.
Tuesday’s fires are under investigation. Anyone with information about the fires can call OPD at 270-687-8888, or Owensboro Crime Stoppers at 270-687-8484. Crime Stoppers is anonymous and pays rewards for tips that lead to arrests.
Because the fires seem random, Mitchell said officials are concerned about who started the fires.
“We can get people like this help,” Mitchell said. “If they come to us and say, ‘I’ve got a problem,’ that type of help exists. This is somebody that needs a little help to get out of this behavior.”
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