St. Paul firefighters responded to one fire after another early on Memorial Day — all caused by arson.
There were a dozen intentionally set fires in a six-hour span on Sunday night and early Monday, and the fire department is looking into whether 10 of them are connected.
Garbage or recycling bins, along with a shed, were set ablaze in the Macalester-Groveland, Merriam Park, Summit-University and other neighborhoods.
“Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but that is always a concern when anybody intentionally sets a fire,” said St. Paul Deputy Fire Chief Roy Mokosso on Tuesday. “It’s especially a concern in the nighttime hours, when fire can grow substantially without being witnessed because people are usually sleeping.”
The fire department said Tuesday they had not found witnesses, and they are asking people to check their home security cameras to see if they captured anything.
The pattern, time and proximity of the fires possibly indicate an individual or group of people were responsible, according to the fire department.
The fires occurred between Sunday at 11 p.m. and Monday at 4:50 a.m.
On Juliet Avenue, near Cretin Avenue, a neighbor spotted a fire about 4:30 a.m. and notified the fire department. A wooden play structure in a backyard, near an alley, was burned down. The fire badly damaged trees and the siding on a neighbor’s garage.
“We are tremendously sad at the damage and relieved it wasn’t worse,” the homeowner posted in a neighborhood Facebook group.
Two of the fires happened in the 2100 block of Jefferson Avenue, a block away from the Juliet Avenue fire. There were three in the 1900 block of Dayton Avenue.
Firefighters also responded to arsons in the area of Fairview and Goodrich avenues, plus the 700, 800 and 1500 blocks of West University Avenue.
They don’t fit the times that child fire play usually occurs, according to Mokosso.
Firefighters are usually busier on holiday weekends and the arson fires meant they were pulled away from any other emergencies in the areas, which would have required firefighters from stations that are farther away to respond, Mokosso said.
Two other intentionally-set fires occurred in the same time-frame, but in different parts of the city — the 700 block of Stryker Avenue and the 1100 block of North Dale Street.
The fire department is asking anyone with information to call the arson hotline at 800-723-2020.
