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Photo Sue Harrison
Firefighters take a hose inside after breaking open the door of the Oppen house on Friday night. |
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Oppen house set on fire
Banner Daily Update Fri. Nov. 2
By Pru Sowers
Banner Staff
PROVINCETOWN – A suspected arsonist on Friday night set the worst in a string of what are now 11 suspicious blazes here.
Firefighters from five towns responded to the fire at an unoccupied house at 9 Oppen Lane, an out of the way street next to the Chateau Best Western Inn just off the Bradford Street Extension. Shortly after firefighters arrived and were making their way into the house from the lower level, the fire had burned the interior of the house so badly that a grand piano crashed down from upstairs grazing a firefighter.
Provincetown Fire Chief Mike Trovato said the fire was deliberately set at the back of the house, which sits on a cliff and is shielded from the rest of the neighborhood, particularly at night. Trovato said the arsonist or arsonists piled leaves and twigs next to the house and lit it on fire.
The reason the damage was so much worse than in the other five buildings that have been torched is because no one noticed the fire until after it had spread throughout the house. Then, Trovato said, even though calls were coming in to the police department with reports of smoke, no one could find the fire. The house sits at the top of Oppen Lane and the other homes on the road, as well as the Chateau Best Western, are unoccupied.
“We’re going to have out hands full,” said one firefighter, who asked not to be identified. “He’s getting worse and worse.”
Friday night’s blaze, which was discovered around 7 pm, was the latest in what police and firefighters believe were deliberate acts of arson. Three fires were set on Wednesday, one seriously damaging a building at 473 Commercial St. The first suspicious fire was on Oct. 23, which was a brush fire just off Rt. 6. Since then, the person or persons responsible lit trashcans and dumpsters on fire before moving to unoccupied buildings. Several of the buildings have been under construction.
Firefighters from Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham and Chatham joined the Provincetown Fire Department in responding to Friday night’s fire. No one was hurt in the incident but Trovato said the interior of the home, which was sold recently, is completely ruined.
The following is from a report filed earlier on Friday before the Oppen fire.
Fire Marshal seeks help with recent arsons
PROVINCETOWN — The State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan joins Provincetown police and fire chiefs Warren Tobias and Michael Trovato in asking for help from the public in matters related to the recent string of suspected arsons.
A release from Coan’s office states that he believes that the two most recent fires, one at 473 Commercial Street and 10 Bradford Street that occurred Wednesday night may be connected and to the previous eight fires that began on Oct. 23.
In addition to asking residents to be aware and vigilant regarding their own properties, authorities are looking for a man age 40 to 50 years old and driving a black car who was seen near one of the fires and who may have information that could help the investigation. He asked that anyone with information about the man in the black car or who saw anything suspicious at any fire location call the Arson Hotline at (800) 682-9229 or the Provincetown police at (508) 487-1212.
In addition to the Fire Marshal’s office and local police and fire departments, the investigation is being assisted by the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Department.
The Arson Hotline is part of the Arson Watch Reward Program that gives rewards of up to $5,000 to help solve arson crimes.
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Preschool screening Nov. 7
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Around the Cape this weekend
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Nov 1st, 2007