Fire Responders Feel Added Risks, Burdens From Vacant Homes, Foreclosures, Evictions

The following stories reflect the added burdens firefighters face as a result of the troubled economy:

• Dover-Foxcroft, Maine: As the economy worsens, state fire marshals are seeing more buildings and vehicles going up in smoke. State Fire Marshal John Dean said last week he has noticed more mention in his investigators’ reports of vacant buildings or buildings under foreclosure and vehicles that have burned for no reason other than to collect on insurance. Economy may be cause of more fires (‘Trapped’ people commit arson for insurance money).

• Middleburg, Florida: Fire destroyed a mobile home in Clay County last week. Although no one was hurt, an increased number of "suspicious fires" across the state is sparking concerns. No one lived in the home for months. It was a foreclosure. "It was vacant at the time," said Detective Jerry Baker, Bureau of Fire Marshall Investigations. The investigation is ongoing but insurance experts and law enforcement officials said they're noticing a correlation between the increasing number of foreclosed homes and suspicious fires. Suspicious Fire in a Foreclosed Home.

• St.Augustine/Jacksonville, Florida: A St. Augustine woman was charged with arson Dec. 19 after vacating a house she was evicted from that was later found burning. The arrest of Billy Bouchard marks two cases within days where people being evicted have been accused of setting fire to former residences. In the other arson, Jacksonville resident Patrice Plummer, 31, was arrested and placed in the Clay County jail after being accused of setting fire Dec. 21 to the Orange Park apartment from which she had been evicted, The Times-Union previously reported. The damage estimate is $500,000 and one firefighter was slightly injured by heat and steam. Plummer was charged with burglary, arson and arson with bodily harm. 2nd evicted woman charged with arson of former home; this one in St. Augustine.

• Marlborough, Massachusetts: A water pipe inside a vacant house on Millham Street broke last week and caused the building to flood, a recurring issue in the city, a fire official said. The Fire Department yesterday marked the building for "limited interior operations" in the event of a fire, Deputy Chief Ron Ayotte said. The city has been identifying vacant houses that would present an emergency hazard for firefighters. Several properties, including two other recent cases, have placards on the outside that warn responders to enter with extreme caution or to simply not enter. See Pipes burst, flood vacant Marlborough house.

• Toledo, Ohio: In today's troubled housing market, the story is all too familiar. A tenant is evicted. The now-vacant dwelling catches fire. The once stately property goes unrepaired and gradually deteriorates to the point that a date with a bulldozer is inevitable. The only difference in this case is that the house isn't in Toledo's aged inner core but in Sylvania Township, an upscale suburb. The case was complicated by a finding that the blaze was intentionally set and by an insurance company's refusal to pay for repairs. The situation helps to illustrate the plague of vacant properties spreading across not only U.S. urban areas but suburbs as well. It also highlights the circumstances that take some vacant houses to the point of no return. Upscale Sylvania Township area copes with blight more typical of inner city.

• Gainesville, Georgia: Officials believe a vacant house fire, which melted vinyl siding on an occupied home next door, was caused by a human act. The two prevailing theories are that a homeless person or neighborhood kids started the fire, either intentionally or unintentionally. "This could be a sign of the times to come," Deputy Fire Chief Jerome Yarbrough said. He fears that with a deepening recession, more homes left vacant from foreclosures and evictions will be burned by vagrants or vandals. And when firefighters show up, they don’t always know if there are occupants who need rescuing. "I have concerns because this type of property fire here is the kind that gets firefighters hurt," Yarbrough said. "I expect to see more of these if the economy gets worse." Vacant home fires a ‘sign of the times’ (Home foreclosures could be behind increase in suspected arsons). ArsonForeclosureAlpha