sevfiv Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 So that means the arsonist also hacks the city's databases! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 It was on mine earlier - but now it's gone!!Me too! It's a conspiracy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Have to admit...I'm beginning to wonder if this is a loco firebug in the HFD, who has crossed over to the dark side. Or does that only happen in the movies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Its back! Lots of firetrucks outside, tooFDCORTLANDT ST BLK E 23RD ST453S11/12/2009 12:26House on FireN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Weird - still not in my list from houstontx.gov/activeincidents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Have to admit...I'm beginning to wonder if this is a loco firebug in the HFD, who has crossed over to the dark side. Or does that only happen in the movies?Not unusual at all.There have been cases where Volunteer FD members would start fires where they would then be called out to put it out.I would have no doubt that a firebug might be a member of HFD, however it would be difficult for him to slip away to light one if he's on duty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankee_in_TX Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Another fire working:FD W 23RD ST BLK BEVIS ST 11/11/2009 23:09 House on Fire NUncomfortably close to ours. We heard the sirens last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Uncomfortably close to ours. We heard the sirens last night.Ugh. Stay safe.At this point I'd be hesitant to call any of them "comfortably far" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 13's reporting an arrest in A Heights fire....still trying to determine whether related to the Heights firebug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 David Joseph Prince, according to the Twittersphere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heightsite Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 Also said he lives on West 26th Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porchman Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 He has purportedly admitted to setting the fire on W 12 @ Herkimer.Story: http://abclocal.go.c...ocal&id=7117182 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Oh dear - he has little eyes and a big forehead just like the Fort Bend fence builder/house blocker! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyHatch Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 There are aout 5 engines and a ton of cops on West 15th right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porchman Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 There are aout 5 engines and a ton of cops on West 15th right nowLots of HFD, some HPD. Weird-ass duplex that faces Herkimer and Blair in the 1500 block. I'm hearing potential electrical. (It's recently been - hem - remodeled). Arson investigators are on the scene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 House on fire at Blair and W 16th reported at 9:22 pm:BLAIR ST BLK W 16TH ST 452Z 11/18/2009 21:22 House on Fire 1 A015, E015, L031 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porchman Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 HFD and ATF are looking into this recent event a bit further. The Chronicle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heights_yankee Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 HFD and ATF are looking into this recent event a bit further. The Chroniclei could very well be wrong, and i would hope i am because i would love this to be done with BUT i really don't think the guy they caught is the arsonist. the news was making a big deal of his petty criminal record. well, arsonists aren't petty criminals. arson is a compulsion- there is a thrill for the arsonist lighting the fire and watching it burn. serial arson isn't criminal mischief, it's a mental thing. anyway, this guy might be a crackpot who torched one building as part of a scheme with the arson stuff going on but i think we (obviously) haven't seen the end to the fires Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyHatch Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 i could very well be wrong, and i would hope i am because i would love this to be done with BUT i really don't think the guy they caught is the arsonist. the news was making a big deal of his petty criminal record. well, arsonists aren't petty criminals. arson is a compulsion- there is a thrill for the arsonist lighting the fire and watching it burn. serial arson isn't criminal mischief, it's a mental thing. anyway, this guy might be a crackpot who torched one building as part of a scheme with the arson stuff going on but i think we (obviously) haven't seen the end to the firesI would tend to agree. Did they actually "catch" the guy or did he confess to it on his own? Here' a guy who is homeless, maybe strung out (looking at his history) and looking to get in out of the upcoming cold weather and maybe get some of what's left of his health back. Maybe I watch too much TV, but isn't that something lifelong criminals supposedly do when things get too tough on the street? Confessing to a crime that actually has a relatively minimal penalty attached to it may be an easy ticket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyHatch Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Lots of HFD, some HPD. Weird-ass duplex that faces Herkimer and Blair in the 1500 block. I'm hearing potential electrical. (It's recently been - hem - remodeled). Arson investigators are on the scene.Actually, I believe it is a stand alone, little old house next to a couple of big new homes. There is a disabled gentleman living there who was unable to get out on his own. The HFD guys didn't hesitate in going in to the burning house and bringing him out. They are ROCK STARS.A scary thing occurs to me. Don't serial arsonists have a tendency to escalate the nature of their crime? For instance, the first fires were in unoccupied, empty residencies (Read: an arsonist sees a home with no one living in one side and doesn't realize it was a dual family residence.) They get whatever rush they get from that type of fire and want more. Next they graduate to burning unoccupied buildings with belongings in them (the next fires were in homes that had belongings in them, but no one home for an extended period of time.) Next, they want to go to a home with someone living in it. What if they knew the guy living in it was disabled and may not have the ability to get him self out quickly enough to save his own life should the home become engulfed? A friend in HFD tells me they believe it is a series of copycat arsons. These idiots better not be trying to out-do one another! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMME Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 While this may or may not be arson, I don't think it was done by "the arsonist". This was during primetime. Weren't all the other ones set in the wee early hours of the morning. Also, I read somewhere that the guy they arrested confessed to the one but said that there are others also setting the fires. My take: Is somebody paying these guys to start these fires? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyHatch Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 While this may or may not be arson, I don't think it was done by "the arsonist". This was during primetime. Weren't all the other ones set in the wee early hours of the morning. Also, I read somewhere that the guy they arrested confessed to the one but said that there are others also setting the fires. My take: Is somebody paying these guys to start these fires?I doubt it. I think it's a simple, scary case of someone(s) getting their rocks off by starting fires. If it were a builder, there are plenty of areas of the Heights where there are multiple properties adjacent to each other in what they might consider to be in tear down condition. The builders are buying properties adjacent to each other, and where there was once one home, there are now multiples so they can make their money back on the high land prices. Burning one house down so you can pay $250k plus for land value alone, and then be allowed to build only one home on it due to property set back rules wouldn't be a great investment on their part. Now, if the crappy half built condos at the end of Nicholson Street burned due to arson, then I might suspect a builder underwriting the efforts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 I doubt it. I think it's a simple, scary case of someone(s) getting their rocks off by starting fires. If it were a builder, there are plenty of areas of the Heights where there are multiple properties adjacent to each other in what they might consider to be in tear down condition. The builders are buying properties adjacent to each other, and where there was once one home, there are now multiples so they can make their money back on the high land prices. Burning one house down so you can pay $250k plus for land value alone, and then be allowed to build only one home on it due to property set back rules wouldn't be a great investment on their part. Now, if the crappy half built condos at the end of Nicholson Street burned due to arson, then I might suspect a builder underwriting the efforts.This is correct. There is an outsized risk compared to the miniscule gain. A builder burns a house, committing a 2nd or 1st degree felony in the process, on the outside chance that the homeowner does not rebuild and then decides to sell to him? With all the lots and homes already for sale in the neighborhood? In this market? This is as silly as the accusations of "widespread voter fraud". The number of felonies that must be committed to get a number of votes large enough to affect an election is astronomical compared to the net gain achieved. It is far easier and cheaper to simply have drivers go around and pick up voters to take them to the polls than to orchestrate the commission of hundreds or thousands of felony votes.As for this guy, he doesn't fit the mold. It is not uncommon for crackheads to set the vacant house they are using on fire while trying to light up, or more commonly, while trying to stay warm. Crackheads have only one goal...to score more dope. They aren't usually interested in arson for the "fire and sirens". While the initial spate of fires was likely one person, many of the later ones likely are committed by others. Some could even be the property owner himself, using the "serial arsonist" as cover for his own insurance grab. Many of these cases, like arson cases in general will never be solved. The number of fires will simply drop back down to historical levels, and life will slowly return to normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porchman Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 So, I get up to have a glass of water. I look outside and think "My, it's foggy". Then I hear numerous sirens approaching the area. Now, I'm thinking "Is that really fog?" (!) Fire in the western section of Heights Annex.NASHUA BLK W 15TH ST452Y11/24/2009 03:13House on Fire1A011, D006, D031, E011, L006, L031, SQ062, E062, E015, HR011, E031Oh, BTW, I stuck my head outside. It's fog. Be careful driving this morning, all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 Couple escapes from fire at Heights homeFirefighters extinguished this morning's fire about an hour after it started.A man, who uses crutches, and his wife escaped the flames uninjured. No one else was in the home at the time of the blaze and no injuries were reported.The fire apparently started in the couple's bedroom, fire officials said. It climbed into the attic, but firefighters soon got the upper hand on it.The homeowner said he couldn't talk about the fire, but his family said the couple was sleeping when they woke up to the smell of smoke and hurried outside.Fire officials said the man told them he thought an electrical problem may have sparked the fire, but investigators had not determined the cause of the blaze a few hours after it was put out.http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6736573.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 http://www.chron.com...an/6736573.htmlWhen was the last fire? Seems we've been 'combustion-free' for a while now. Either the cops got the right guy, or the real arsonist is letting that guy take the fall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porchman Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 When was the last fire? Seems we've been 'combustion-free' for a while now. Either the cops got the right guy, or the real arsonist is letting that guy take the fall.Blair St on 11/18 was the last arson. It did not appear to follow the same m.o. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porchman Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 A new incidentStreet -N DURHAM DR Block -W 14TH ST 452Y12/04/2009 04:04211 fireAlarm level- 2Units - A015, D006, D031, E011, E015, L006, L031, SQ062, E062, HR011, D008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintCyr Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Another new one... Ghetto Bird woke us up...YALE BLK W 25TH ST452V12/04/2009 05:19Building Fire1 AlarmA031, D004, E019, D034, E058, E550, L019, L067, SQ006, HM2022, HM1022One hour and 5 minutes apart... He's heading east! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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