Warning issued after several fires set

Warning issued after several fires set
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published July 23, 2003


Burnaby firefighters are warning residents living near Moscrop secondary school to keep a vigilant eye open for suspicious activity in their neighbourhood.

A series of small fires over the past 10 days has escalated into the burning of a vacant duplex and the torching of an excavator last week, said assistant chief Fred Scarfe, head of the fire prevention office.

"There could be a fire- setter in that neighbourhood," Scarfe said Monday. "Any time you get several fires in a similar area, you start to get concerned. It would be nice if we could touch base with the people in the area and tell them to keep an eye open for anything suspicious."

The excavator, which had been working on the western side of the school property, had suffered minor damage in several small fires earlier this summer, but the machine was probably destroyed when it was torched last Wednesday night.

And then, last Saturday night, firefighters were called out to a small hedge fire in the neighbourhood, about one hour before a vacant duplex in the 5700 block of Willingdon suffered extensive damage in a suspicious fire.

"We can't establish a firm link, but these fires are suspicious," said fire inspector Bonni Prokopetz. "I would caution people to be extra vigilant right now.

Prokopetz also advises all city residents to do a cleanup of their yards to remove any kind of material that might be used to start a fire and to make sure their garages and worksheds are locked.

"Don't leave anything lying around that might entice someone," she said. "That's just a common sense precaution.

"The other concern is if you hear something, it might be an idea to investigate."

Other fires in the neighbourhood in recent weeks include the torching of a garbage bin on the school property, plus a suspected arson attack against a used fridge.

Scarfe said the nature of the suspicious fires leads investigators to believe that the suspects could be young people out of school for the summer. The RCMP have been called in to help with the investigations.