Coatesville PA Arson Epidemic Continues Unabated

Coatesville, PA

Over the last few weeks there has been an epidemic of fires in the City of Coatesville, Pennsylvania. City officials don’t have any clue what is going on, who is responsible for the rash of arsons, or how to stop it.

From Fox Philadelphia:

28 arsons in Coatesville in the past year are under investigation, and the blazes have left the community anxious and on edge.

Thursday, police offered a $5000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

January has proven to be a popular month for arsonists in the town.

Indeed January is a popular month for setting homes ablaze in Coatesville. Over the weekend 15 homes were burnt to the ground in an 8 alarm fire.

COATESVILLE, Pa. — The latest in a string of suspicious fires in this Philadelphia suburb tore through a block of row houses, damaging 15 homes, leaving several dozen people homeless and prompting city officials to declare a state of emergency.

Oh, yes, they’ve declared a state of emergency.
State Of Emergency Called In Coatesville After Latest Arson

Fifteen homes were damaged and some may have to be demolished, and eleven families have been displaced, Walker said. Damage was estimated at $1.2 million, bringing the total fire damage since last summer to $3 million, he said.

The emergency declaration will give the city powers to deal with the situation without worrying about the budget, such as boarding up the buildings, assigning police to protect them and helping the families involved, Walker said.

Later Sunday, at a meeting with citizens and city officials, Walker called the arsonists attempted murderers.

On Saturday, I read the tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell, and it was talking about how New York City caused a plummet in the crime rate by stopping people from jumping fares, and cleaning up the subway stations and cars. It was based on something called the Broken Window Principle, which basically says that when people see an area that is not well kept, and has a lot of broken windows, it encourages more broken windows.

Basically, crooks look at a disintegrating ghetto, and say “We’re open for business.” By fixing up the area, it stops sending the signal that this is where crime is to take place. Coatesville, quite frankly, is a f*cking s#1thole. It’s a dump. If the idea outlined in the Tipping Point hold true, then the very cause of the mayhem in Coatesville is the fact that the city is one big giant pile of refuse.

City Officials have told residents to clear their porches of all their crap, which is often what is being used to start the fires. But it goes deeper than that. Just drive through Coatesville, and there are all the markers of a slum. Boarded up buildings housing squatters and druggies. Condemned buildings, graffiti, and garbage everywhere. The City may be able to finally reach the arson tipping point by taking a page from New York City’s playbook, and putting their efforts into making the city look nice.

I don’t know what it will take, but at this rate, there won’t be a city left by 2010.

Advertisement