By Jessica Van Sack
The Boston Herald
NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Authorities are hunting an apparent serial arsonist suspected of setting about a dozen fires within a half-mile radius near downtown Northampton yesterday morning, killing a father and son trapped inside their Fair Street home.
Investigators say someone torched at least two homes, a shed and garage, as well as numerous cars early yesterday — and although it was difficult to pinpoint when the fires were set, almost all 911 calls came between 2 and 3:15 a.m.
A father and son living at 17 Fair St. were killed after being trapped in their fully engulfed home, where two women were able to escape. Relatives and neighbors identified the victims as Paul Yeskie and Paul Yeskie Jr.
“Paul, the father, was the sweetest guy you’d probably ever want to meet — just a really simple guy,’' said Bernadette Giblin, whose late husband was the elder Yeskie’s nephew. “They both relied on each other a lot. I think it would have been very hard for either one of them to live in this world without the other.’'
State Fire Marshal Steve Coen urged the public to report suspicious activity and said arsonists are among the most difficult criminals to catch “Many times the success of an arson prosecution depends on information gleaned from the neighborhood,’' he said.
Gov. Deval Patrick traveled to Northampton yesterday and Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel said a task force of local, state and federal investigators was probing the blazes.
“It’s kind of like my childhood being burned away,’' 14-year-old Henry Siegel, whose two-story home on Union Street was among those destroyed, told the Herald. “Had I woken up minutes later, I really would not be here.’'
Siegel, who escaped along with his father, described hearing glass from his enclosed porch shatter at about 2 a.m. “My first reaction was someone was in our house, so I woke my dad up in the room next to me, and we went downstairs and saw there was a fire.’'
Although the burst of violence shook homeowners, this was not the first time the city, population of about 30,000, was hit by arson. “There have been a lot of fires going on here for two years, but they never did nothing because no one was hurt,’' said Fred Pirog, a neighbor of the Yeskie family. “They should have paid attention to it years ago.’'
As for the victims, Giblin remembered the elder Paul Yeskie as an “incredible gardener’’ who would grow vegetables and donate them to Meals on Wheels.
Copyright 2009 Boston Herald Inc.