Latest Coatesville fire quickly doused

Mary Beth Chodkiewicz heeded the warnings.

She illuminated her Coatesville home and removed flammables from the backyard.

Even so, on Tuesday night she became the 18th victim of the arson spree that has plagued Coatesville since Jan. 1.

The fires have terrorized the city, caused more than $3 million in damage, and prompted Gov. Rendell to announce during his budget address yesterday that the struggling onetime steel town would get $500,000 in state funds to help with the crisis.

Chodkiewicz's house in the 100 block of Chester Avenue, which she bought six years ago, sustained damage to an exterior wall but remained habitable.

"Thank God no one was hurt," she said. "Thank God I've got insurance."

Chodkiewicz said a disabled relative had been sleeping in the family room on the other side of the charred back wall. It appeared that the fire was started in a large plastic outdoor container where she kept mainly gardening equipment, Chodkiewicz said.

Neighbors spotted smoke shortly after 9:30 p.m. Chodkiewicz and her son used extinguishers against the flames until firefighters arrived.

The fire also brought investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who combed her snow-covered backyard for evidence from shortly after 9:30 p.m. until about 3 a.m. Special Agent John Hageman, an ATF spokesman, said bureau personnel were "working round the clock" in Coatesville.

Hageman encouraged people with information to call 484-356-6109, a 24-hour tip line. A reward of up to $20,000 is being offered for information leading to the conviction of the serial arsonist or arsonists, Hageman said.

George Wilson, who said he had lived a couple of doors away from Chodkiewicz's house since 1982, said it had becomingly increasingly difficult to cope with the fear the arsons have caused. Like most of his neighbors, he has installed numerous outside lights and removed valuables from the residence.

"It's getting tougher all the time," he said. "No, we don't sleep well at all."

Coatesville, which typically experiences one or two arsons a year, recorded 15 in 2008, one of which caused the death of an 83-year-old woman. In December, three people were taken into custody, where they remain, but the blazes have continued.

A statement released by the Governor's Office described Coatesville as a besieged community that "is struggling. The city's $4 million budget for fire and police services can't pay to keep up and give victims the services they need and deserve in response to this crisis."

Rendell spokesman Michael Smith said half of the money would be used to assist victims and the other half would "help shore up the city's already-burdened police and fire department budgets."

Coatesville City Council President Martin L. Eggleston said he was grateful for the money, adding that expenses had been "substantial."

In the last two weeks, City Manager Harry G. Walker said, the city paid $60,000 in police overtime.

The funding represents the second time the governor has intervened on behalf of Coatesville and its approximately 11,600 residents. A midnight phone call from the governor to the state police commissioner last month resulted in the establishment of the Chester County Arson Task Force, a consortium of federal, state, county and local law-enforcement agencies operating in the city.

The promise of state funds was not the only help to come Coatesville's way. Trash trucks rumbled through the city yesterday as workers from neighboring communities and local business, aided by Rotary Club volunteers, helped Coatesville dispose of combustible material.

The effort went well, according to West Bradford Township Manager Jack Hines, who said that 60 to 70 "really good people" took part in the effort from 7 a.m. to noon. Hines estimated that 100 tons of material, mainly couches and mattresses, were hauled out of the city in more than 20 trucks.

"Despite the cold weather, everyone came back with smiles on their faces," Hines said. "Workers said that residents came out and helped, and many said, 'God bless you for coming out.' "