UPDATE @11:45 a.m. 11/12/2014
Surveillance video has been released of a fire in the 150 block of Linden Avenue last week.
No arrests have been made.
UPDATE @ 3 a.m. 11/5/2014
Less than twenty-four hours after it first caught fire, a house at 158 Linden Avenue was in flames again overnight.
“We definitely have a repeat offender,” said Dayton District Fire Chief, Scott Rowlett. “We were at this house just a few hours ago on the right side of this structure.”
This fire was reported around 12:30 a.m. Thursday and was on the left side of the structure.
Rowlett previously told News Center 7 videographer Jim Noelker that the structure was very unsafe.
“The concern is the stability of the structure; the concern is for our firefighters and the citizens and making sure that they are safe,” said Rowlett.
Firefighters were able to knock down the latest fire and clear the scene by 1:06 a.m.
An arson investigator was called to the scene.
“As the fire department, we ask the public to keep their eyes and ears open, look out for any strange individuals in the neighborhood,” Rowlett said. “If you see something unusual, call us immediately so we can get out here,” Rowlett said.
UPDATE @ 10:25 p.m.: The fire at 158 Linden Ave. is the second recent fire at the same address Dayton District Chief Scott Rowlett has battled and he was ready to sacrifice the building that had been cut into four apartments on each side because it is a hazard to firefighters.
“I was prepared to burn this building down, to be honest with you,” Rowlett told News Center 7 videographer Jim Noelker. “It’s too unsafe.”
An arson investigator was called to add the vacant address to the list of suspicious fires that have occurred in the 100 block of Linden since early October. One of the houses next door was being rehabbed and did have renters, Rowlett said, but they had to leave because of a suspicious fire.
“We definitely have an arson problem in this area,” he said, noting that once again, the Dayton Fire Department is asking residents in the community to be on the lookout for suspicious activity and to call the department.
“We’ll be there quick,” Rowlett said, “but if it gets too far gone, we’re not going to risk firefighters’ lives for a vacant structure.”
FIRST REPORT
Crews are on the scene of another suspicious fire set in the 100 block of Linden Avenue, the seventh since October and the first since Oct. 21.
Dayton crews were dispatched to 158 Linden about 8:15 p.m. on a report of a structure fire with flames showing from the two-story residence. There are no reports of any injuries.
On Oct. 21, Dayton crews were sent to 160 Linden just after 5 p.m. and found smoke coming from the attic and flames in the rear of the residential structure, Dayton Capt. Robert Cockayne said. The structure was vacant, but it had been secured. Crews arrived to find two open windows to the room where the fire was.
No one was hurt and damage was minimal. An arson investigator was dispatched to the address.
“We’ve had a rash of arsons in the area,” the captain said.
The night of Oct. 10, firefighters were called to the fifth suspicious fire on the same block in the three days. The fire at the house in the 100 block of Linden was the same property where a garage fire broke out the night of Oct. 9 and another garage fire reported the week of Sept. 29.
The Oct. 10 fire was discovered when crews investigated a burglary alarm that sounded at the home while the occupants were away.
The Oct. 9 fire was a garage in the 100 block of Linden, near South Van Lear Street and just north of East Fifth Street.