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Photo Pru Sowers
Provincetown Fire Chief Mike Trovato directs fight fighters at 2 Commercial St., the scene of the latest suspected incident of arson. |
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Photo Pru Sowers
Provincetown firefighters pried open a garage door at 2 Commercial St., where police say a fire was deliberately set. |
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Three fires on Wed. may point to arsonist
Banner Daily Update 10 pm Wed. Oct. 31
By Pru Sowers
Banner Staff
PROVINCETOWN –10 pm — At around 9:30 p.m. a fire was reported at the corner of Bradford and Cottage streets. A cottage at the rear of the property was burning but firefighters quickly extinguished it. There appears to be reason to believe that this fire was the work of the arsonist though the investigation continues at this hour.
Earlier this evening a fire broke out on the second floor of a house at 473 Commercial St. The house, formerly the residence of Admiral Donald MacMillan the artic explorer, suffered extensive damage but was contained before it could spread further. The state fire marshal's office is investigating.
The 473 Commercial St. fire is unusual in the arsonist series (see below) because this is the first fire not located in the West End of town.
2pm — A suspected arsonist started an eighth in a string of weeklong fires Wednesday afternoon in the garage of the Murchison House, 2 Commercial St.
Acting Police Chief Warren Tobias said the fire was deliberately set outside the back door of the garage, which is shielded from the road by a high hedge. It quickly spread to the interior of the large garage, which has also been used as a studio.
Police may have caught a break in this latest fire. Contractors on the property reported seeing a white male, approximately 5’10” tall with a medium build and gray hair walking around to the back of the garage and then leaving approximately 30 minutes before smoke began rising. Sgt. Carrie Lopes said the witnesses reported the man was wearing jeans, a light blue fleece vest, white short-sleeved t-shirt and a white or tan baseball cap. He was last seen walking east on Commercial Street from the Murchison property.
“I would call him a person of interest who we want to interview,” Tobias said. “Hopefully someone in town will have seen this person walking and they’ll know who he is.”
The fire, which began at approximately 1 p.m., is the eighth is a string of what police suspect are deliberately set fires. The first fires were lit in garbage cans and dumpsters but then the arsonist or arsonists set fire to a house under construction at 98 Bayberry Ave. and the West End Racing Club. All the fires have been in Provincetown’s west end.
“The pattern is changing,” Tobias said. “The fires had all been set in the evening. This is broad daylight.”
Police ask residents to call (508) 487-1212 if they see anything suspicious.
For more on this story see the Nov. 8 Provincetown Banner. Additional news will be posted on this site after any further developments.
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Nov 1st, 2007