Laws tighten, reward reaches 17G amid Coatesville arsons
As Coatesville police try to smoke out the arsonists who have ravaged Chester County's only city - the reward pot has grown to $17,500 - officials are ordering residents to remove upholstered furniture and other combustible items from their porches.
As Coatesville police try to smoke out the arsonists who have ravaged Chester County's only city - the reward pot has grown to $17,500 - officials are ordering residents to remove upholstered furniture and other combustible items from their porches.
Homeowners who fail either to put couches, cushions, trash and other debris out for curbside pickup or bring them into their houses could be fined and billed if city workers have to clear the porches themselves, Coatesville spokeswoman Kristin Geiger said yesterday.
State police and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are helping local cops track down the arsonists who have terrorized the down-and-out steel town with 14 house fires this month - most recently Saturday's four-alarm blaze that left dozens of Fleetwood Street residents homeless, among them Councilwoman Robin Scott.
The perpetrators have been starting the fires using flammable materials near houses. Officials are urging residents to keep their porch lights on or to install motion detectors.
Nerves were rattled last night at about 6:30 when a resident on Coates Street near Graham Avenue discovered a fire burning in a trash can behind his house, said ATF spokesman John Hageman.
Fire department and ATF officials were investigating the fire, which the resident extinguished before it could do any serious damage.
"Every little spark of a match is cause for concern right now," Hageman said.
He said that investigators also are trolling the Internet, noting that social-networking sites and YouTube sometimes yield leads. Several videos of the Coatesville fires have been posted online.
"It's become an investigative tool," Hageman said. "A lot of people don't realize that what they put on the Web is viewed by everyone out there. Oftentimes, criminals are posting shots of themselves with guns or committing a crime."
Today, Coatesville officials are expected to announce parking restrictions on narrow roads so that fire trucks and ambulances are not blocked in the event of future arsons.
City Council will hold a town-hall meeting at 7 tonight at Gordon Elementary School, 351 Kersey St., to update residents and to answer questions about the arsons, which have drawn national attention.
Donations have been pouring in for displaced families, including $10,000 from the Brandywine Health Foundation to the Coatesville Family Fund. Frances Sheehan, the foundation's president, urged other organizations to pitch in. *
