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Coatesville continues to burn

Felicia Taylor and her fiance were watching TV late Friday night in Coatesville when a neighbor rushed over to tell her there was a fire near her back door.

The 100 block of Hope Avenue in Coatesville, where a trash fire Friday night was ruled arson. A nearby swing-set fire also was set. (Rahul Coutinho / Staff photographer)
The 100 block of Hope Avenue in Coatesville, where a trash fire Friday night was ruled arson. A nearby swing-set fire also was set. (Rahul Coutinho / Staff photographer)Read more
    by REGINA MEDINA
    Published 

Felicia Taylor and her fiance were watching TV late Friday night in Coatesville when a neighbor rushed over to tell her there was a fire near her back door.

The couple ran out to the back to see their loveseat-style swing set - under a tarp - in flames, she said. Taylor's fiance was able to get a hold of the set, which stood against her stucco home, and throw it into her back yard, she said yesterday.

Taylor sprayed down the burning swing set with a garden hose until it was extinguished while her diligent neighbor called 9-1-1.

Soon after, the Chester County Arson Task Force ruled the Madison Street fire, and a trash fire a few blocks away on Hope Avenue, as the 21st and 22nd arsons in Coatesville proper this year. Both occurred around 11:40 p.m. Friday.

Although neither fire resulted in injuries or damages, the 52-year-old Taylor said "it is scary."

"Thank God it wasn't worse," she said. "Some people's houses [have] burned down. I'm truly blessed."

She said that the helpful neighbor who warned them about the fire was also able to describe the arsonist to investigators. The neighbor declined to comment to the Daily News.

Another of Taylor's neighbors, Jerry Allen, said that he was awakened by the sounds of sirens Friday night.

Its location was too close for Allen. "I hope they find whoever is doing it," he said.

Allen said that police have cut back on patrolling the area since the arrest last month of two young men charged with some of the arsons.

"They need to beef it up a little more," he said. Pennsylvania state troopers no longer cruise the neighborhood, he said, and the local police "patrol but not like they should."

Taylor said that she is thankful for her stucco home and for the early warning. "We could have been killed," she said.

The fires have "put a lot of fear in a lot of people," she said. "I'm trying not to let fear come into my life." *

    RM
    REGINA MEDINA