4 More Arsons in Coatesville PA

Coatesville, PA 1/31/2009 – There have now been 17 arsons in the Coatesville area in the first 31 days of 2009. The most recent ones reported on January 31 occurred outside the city limits of Coatesville in the surrounding townships. The fires follow the same pattern as the arsons inside the Coatesville city limits as they usually are started by setting a trash can on the porch ablaze, and if the homeowner is unfortunate enough, more catches fire from there.

According to CBS3

Two of Saturday’s blazes were set on porches of homes on the same street in Valley Township shortly after 12:30 a.m. The third was started at a home in nearby Sadsbury Township at 3 a.m., and a fourth on the porch of a home in Modena was reported to investigators around 7 a.m.

The most destructive of the 17 fires this year destroyed 15 homes on January 24, exactly one week ago. The 4 fires reported today occurred in surrounding townships, thus it appears the Coatesville Arson Epidemic may be spreading.

Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives say that they are not sure if the most recent fires are directly related to the arsonist, or arsonist setting the fires with in the Coatesville city limits. Investigators are also looking into past arsons in surrounding communities to see if the most recent blazes might have a connection.

This is starting to get scary for the entire area. For the beginning of the epidemic, the arsons were confined to the City of Coatesville itself. I had even told a friend that I did not think it would spread to the more suburban areas, but the Sadsburyville fire is well outside the city limits in a quiet suburban community, which means the 2 miles that I am outside of the city limits is far from a guarantee of safety.

Keep those smoke detector batteries fresh.

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