A short sigh of relief in the Metro East: police have arrested a man who they claim has been starting fires in homes, terrorizing residents in Cahokia.
There were three fires Saturday: one burned a car, two others lit up vacant houses. Those houses in the 100 block of Amelia Drive also caused damage to neighboring homes.
Arson has been a major issue for the all-volunteer, Camp Jackson Fire Department. Its slim resources are shrinking with each blaze fire fighters battle. There have been 10 just in the past month that are believed to have been intentionally set in one neighborhood.
It puts lives in danger. Even with this latest arrest, neighbors fear that it's not the end of the suspicious fires in Parkfield Terrace. They tell me that they believe some of the fires might be set by people looking for revenge over drug deals and other crimes.
This morning's fire started in a car port between two houses. They sit right across the street from a home gutted by fire just last week -- the same time another house went up in flames a couple of blocks away. But Saturday morning's blazes began with a car fire in a vehicle belonging to a woman who says she's become a victim in the crossfire.
"You know, I don't know if it's kids or if it's people mad at each other, I really don't know," Camp Jackson Fire Chief Chris Davis said.
"But you just want them to stop," I said.
"Yeah," Chief Davis said. "I'm real concerned about the safety of the fire fighters."
That goes for innocent neighbors as well.
Camp Jackson, Cahokia, Prairie Du Pont and several other fire departments have been pushed to their limits in battling these blazes. At times there are several fires toned out at the same time so the departments are being stretched to their limits with manpower and not to mention the extreme heat wave that has enveloped the area. This just makes battling the fires that much harder since firefighters can’t operate as long before exhaustion sets in.