Tag Archives: arson

Albuquerque, NM – Sprinkler systems help protect businesses in string of arson fires

The Federal Bureau of Investigations confirms one person is in custody following a string of fires at several Albuquerque businesses Saturday morning.

Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden would not elaborate on the suspect’s connection to the fires.

“We do have a person in custody and we firmly believe that our community is safe and this should not happen again,” said Chief Eden.

The FBI is leading the investigation and they have not released any details on who was taken into custody or what charges that person faces. APD says it is helping the FBI, ATF and State Police gather evidence.

Albuquerque Police Arrested the suspect Saturday morning in connection with a fire at the Barnes and Noble at Coronado Center, another fire at the Old Navy Store on Cutler near San Mateo and a fire at the Shred It center on Broadway.

Those businesses all suffered fire and smoke damage as well as water damage from sprinkler systems set off by the fires.

There were similar incidents at three Starbucks locations in Albuquerque on Friday morning.

Hopkinton, MA – Suspicious fire in school faculty bathroom extinguished by sprinkler system

State and local authorities are investigating a suspicious bathroom fire at Hopkins School on Monday that forced the school’s evacuation. The fire, located in a second floor faculty bathroom, was extinguished by the school’s sprinkler system, Deputy Fire Chief Bill Miller said on Tuesday.

The Hayden Rowe Street school was evacuated after the sprinkler system activated the fire alarm at 9:09 a.m. Miller said the fire caused minor damage, but there was water damage in the bathroom.

“They discovered a suspicious fire in the second floor bathroom,” Miller said. Miller would not discuss details of the fire, citing the open investigation. According to the Hopkinton Police log, an arson investigator from the state’s Fire Marshal’s Office came to the scene to help investigate.

Miller said school resumed about an hour after the fire and no one was injured. “The school did a phenomenal job of evacuating the students and following all plans and procedures,” Miller said.  Police spokesman Lt. Joseph Bennett said police are continuing to investigate the fire. Bennett would not release much information, citing the fire is still under investigation. Although the bathroom is a faculty bathroom, it was also open to student use.

Jennifer Mieth, a spokeswoman for the state Fire Marshal’s Office, said the cause of the fire has not been determined, but it appears to be intentionally set.

She said school fires are not uncommon. In 2015 there were 149 school fires. The majority of which were cooking related, but many were also set fires.

“Most of them were small,” said Mieth. “Although all fires start small.”

Hopkinton Public School Superintendent Cathy MacLeod said school administrators spent the day going from classroom to classroom explaining what occurred. She said the goal was to both make the students comfortable at the school, as well as to prevent the spread of rumors

Riverside, CA – Arson fire at shopping mall extinguished by sprinkler system

A homeless man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of starting a small fire at the Galleria at Tyler in Riverside.  The fire was reported about 8:45 a.m. in a part of the mall that is under construction. Riverside Fire Investigations Supervisor Ray Mendoza said the fire was extinguished by the mall’s sprinkler system, but part of the mall was still evacuated as a precautionary measure.

The fire alarm closest to the fire was in test mode, which caused a delayed response from city firefighters. Mendoza said it’s common for fire alarms to be in test mode in buildings under construction.
When firefighters did arrive at 1299 Galleria at Tyler to investigate the extinguished fire, which caused about $5,000 in damage, they determined it was intentionally ignited.  Mall security told firefighters they knew where the suspect, 28-year-old Brian Haugh, was at the time.  Hough was arrested on suspicion of arson and taken to the Robert Presley Detention Center, where bail is set at $35,000.

Chester, VA – Suspected arson fire at Amazon facility put out by sprinkler system

Chesterfield Fire crews responded to a fire at the Amazon facility in Chester early Saturday.

The call came in at 3:55 a.m. for a fire in the restroom. 

However, within an hour after officers arrived on the scene, they found fires in two separate restrooms. Both of the fires started in the trash can.

Lt. Jason Elmore with Chesterfield Fire says an employee extinguished one of the fires, and it did not spread outside the trash can.

The other fire activated the sprinkler system and was extinguished by the sprinkler. Flames spread to the counter and to the walls.

The business was shut down for two to three hours.

The Fire Marshal is investigating, and it is believed the fires were set with arson in mind.

Lt. Elmore says no one was injured, but Chesterfield Fire and Amazon officials are still trying to determine any suspects involved with these fires.

Charges could be pending.

Phoenix, AZ – Suspected arson fire at tattoo shop knocked down by sprinkler system

Wolfskin Ink tattoo shop is the victim of a suspected arsonist who allegedly threw some kind of accelerant at the front window causing a fire to break out.  

It happened early Wednesday morning.  

According to fire officials, there is surveillance video of a single person getting out of a car, lighting something and throwing it at the front window.  Luckily for the shop owner, the accelerant hit a metal grate and bounced off causing most of the fire to stay outside of the business.  

However, a table inside did catch fire but a sprinkler system was able to knock the flames out before firefighters arrived. 

Wolfskin Ink owner, Reynay Perkins, says she has no idea why someone would do this.

“We haven’t had any problems with anyone recently,” Perkins said. 

Perkins says the tattoo shop has operated near 17th Avenue and Bell Road for the past two years. The company was founded in her backyard with her husband Jubel and then it grew from there.  

The suspected arson comes at a rough time. Her husband was murdered near 18th and Adams streets in late August. Police are still searching for a suspect in the case.

As for the suspected arson, Wolfskin Ink did suffer mostly water damage, but Perkins says the shop could be up and running by early next week.  

“Everyday is another curve ball. Just gotta keep running with the punches,” Perkins said.  

Orange, VA – Suspected arson fire during renovation of homeless shelter controlled by sprinkler system

The Orange fire marshal is investigating a suspected arson at the former President Madison Inn on Caroline Street. Right now the Paul Stefan Foundation is in the process of renovating the building into a regional home for pregnant homeless women.

Foundation president and co-founder Randy James got a call from town authorities around 7:30 Monday morning telling him water was coming out of the building. By the time he arrived, the first floor was flooded due to the sprinkler system being set off by flames.

Investigators say they suspect the fire was set to one of the rooms in the back. No one was inside the building at the time “The sprinkler system worked and that’s a blessing because we’ve remodeled the upstairs, put $200,000 into the third floor. So, no water went off on the third floor, and didn’t damage the work that was already done, so that was a blessing,” James said.

James estimates the damage to cost about $60,000 to $70,000. This is an ongoing investigation but the Sheriff’s Office says foul play is suspected. Anyone with information is asked to call the Orange County Sheriff’s Office at 540-672-1200.

Bedford, TX – Arson fire at convenience store put out by sprinkler system

Bedford police want to find the man who tried to set a convenience store clerk on fire who possibly ended up burning himself.  Police say the robber walked into a Bedford store Thursday night, took money from the clerk and set the place on fire, pouring some kind of flammable liquid in the store and on the clerk.

“The guy got the money out of the register and got it from Harry,” Quick Track Manager Sharron Meeks. Police say the man had a brown hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans. His only weapon appeared to be a bottle wrapped in a red rag and filled with what the store thinks was gasoline.

“Your heart sinks because you think how can someone be so cruel to not value life enough that they would do something like that to another human being?” said Meeks.

The video shows the man walk into the store. He poured the liquid on the counter and then went to the cash register where the clerk gave him money. The suspect then poured the liquid behind the counter and on the clerk.

“Wanted the money of the cash register, and he gave it to him, Meeks said. It was a close call for the clerk. People with the company say the sprinkler system put out the fire and probably saved the clerk from being burned. Police believe the suspect slipped and fell as he ran out and may have burn injuries to his hands, arms and upper chest.

“You see robberies in this business a lot, but this is the worst thing I’ve ever seen,” Meeks said. “The scariest.”

Dillingham, AK – Arson fire at grocery market knocked down by sprinkler system

An automatic sprinkler system kept early morning fires set inside the N&N Market down, but not out, and the Dillingham Volunteer Fire Department was called to the scene before 8:00 a.m.

“When we made entry, the building was full of smoke, pretty heavy smoke,” said Assistant Fire Chief Malcolm Wright. “There were fires in several different places, and they’d been knocked down by the sprinkler system. The sprinklers did their job, but there was still a lot of smoke, and [we] had to overhaul the materials that had burned.”

Wright said there appeared to be two spots fires were started in the store. One was back in the clothing section near the footwear, and another was where bulk paper towels are sold on an aisle end cap, next to the produce section and the freezers. Those were areas firefighters focused on pulling apart materials to stamp out the fire.

Wright, a veteran firefighter, had no doubt the fires had been set intentionally. “Yeah, there is no way I could waffle on that. But I want to leave it to police to say more when they’re ready,” he said.

As to the extent of the damage, Wright said it was “pretty heavy” inside, but credited the sprinklers with preventing the fire from spreading further. “There was a bunch of stuff [damaged] on the shelves, some shelving, some lights, but probably much more water damage I would think. Took us a while to get the sprinklers turned back off,” he said.

Two Dillingham police officers were inside collecting evidence immediately after the firefighters cleared the building. Chief Dan Pasquariello could not be reached for comment Sunday morning.

A witness at the scene, who asked not to be named, told police that noises were heard and the power was out at N&N around 3:30 a.m., and not long after a vehicle sped quickly from behind the store and drove a ways down the road before turning its lights on. Other store employees at the scene said the perpetrator or perpetrators had broken a window in the rear of the building to gain entrance.

No injuries were reported. The N&N Market was closed for business Sunday.

There are city cameras around the port entrance, and in the past N&N Market has operated cameras in the store which have helped lead to the arrest of other burglars. So far Dillingham Police have not said what evidence was collected, what if anything was stolen, or if they are looking for any suspects.

The volunteer crash rescue squad also responded to a vehicle accident north on Lake Road earlier in the morning, and the fire department was pulled away from the scene of the N&N fire after a report of a fire in HUD housing was called in. That turned out to be a false alarm; smoke from fireworks shot into the woodline to scare off a bear had been mistaken for a fire.

Update, 12:45 p.m.: Dillingham Police Chief Dan Pasquariello issued a press release, confirming an arson and burglary investigation is underway, though no suspects have been named. “Investigation revealed that person(s) had broken into the building, stole numerous items from the store, and deliberately set the store on fire,” he wrote.

Pasquariello said the ATM had been targeted, but did not want to comment on other items stolen. He did not say how many people had been involved, or if the Department has suspects in mind. The chief said the police are in the early stages of their investigation, and has asked anyone with information regarding burglary and arson at N&N early Sunday morning to contact DPD at 842-5354.

Madison, WI – Sprinkler system extinguishes intentionally-set fire at office building

Montreal, QC, Canada – Suspected arson fire at food distribution business put out with help from sprinkler system

Montreal police say they believe an overnight fire at a Saint-Leonard food distribution store was arson.  Fire crews were called to the business on Magloire Street near the corner of Lafrenaie Street around midnight.

When the firefighters arrived at the scene, they saw that a window in front of the store had been broken and noticed an accelerant had been thrown inside, said Montreal police spokesperson Caroline Chèvrefils.  The sprinkler system helped put out the fire quickly, so damage was minimal.  No one was hurt and so far police have no suspects.