Fire Marshal says there's no spike in arson in PH

Subject: Fire Marshal says there's no spike in arson in PH

So about all those suspicious fires in Prospect Heights/Crown Heights:

Fire marshal cool on arson (New York Daily News)

"Despite a rash of spectacular and deadly fires this year in parts of Brooklyn, and a widespread perception of a spike in arson, the borough's fire statistics don't show an alarming increase, according to testimony yesterday by Chief Fire Marshal Louis Garcia at a City Council hearing."

"Overall, during the first months of this year, Brooklyn had 3,106 structural (building) fires, Garcia reported. That compares to 2,899 such fires during the same period last year (7% fewer than this year) and 3,093 fires in 2004 (0.4% fewer than this year), he said."

"Garcia also said there's been no sharp increase in Community Board 8 - the area that is the focus of arson concerns."

Board 8 includes Crown Heights and Prospect Heights, which have seen a number of high-profile suspicious fires, including the Feb. 24 fire at 1033 Pacific St. that killed two women and two children. (See: Another Suspicious Fire Kills in Prospect Heights; http://www.dailyheights.com/archives/937)


"We have not really seen a big increase in incendiary [arson] fires in Community Board 8," Garcia testified. "We don't see a real spike."

"He said there were 39 arson fires within Community Board 8 in 2004 and 37 in 2005. And there were 17 arson fires during the first four months of 2006, compared with 16 during the same period last year and nine in 2004."

"Pacific St. alone had four arson fires last year, and three so far this year through April, he noted."

"Nevertheless, Garcia was subjected to sharp and skeptical questions from Council members, especially Letitia James (D-Working Families Party-Fort Greene), whose district includes the neighborhoods experiencing the arson fires."

" 'There are [real estate] speculators in and around Crown Heights and Prospect Heights, and so all of these suspicious fires have caused all of us concern,' she told Garcia."

"Of 16 suspicious fires cited by James and the other Council members, Garcia acknowledged that nine were classified as arson-caused. And a representative of Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said that at least eight of those fires are being actively investigated by the district attorney."

And about the fire marshal manpower situation (there are 99 fire marshals today, down from 400 in the 1980s):

"On any given night tour, when arson fires are most likely to occur, only four marshals in two cars are generally available to protect the entire city, Layne said."

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Old discussion threads on this topic:
http://dailyheights.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2484
http://dailyheights.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2222
http://www.dailyheights.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2504