Investigators question man about arsons in Ybor area

Fire investigators have questioned a man about a series of arsons this past year in the Ybor City area, but no arrests have been made and his name was not released.

The man had rented three of the 14 houses that were set on fire in the neighborhood north of Interstate 4 and west of 22nd Street. Some of the homes were torched multiple times, acting Tampa Fire Marshal Milton Jenkins said this morning at a news conference in front a house that burned Tuesday on East 19th Avenue.

The rash of deliberately set fires has ignited fears that a firebug is on the loose, as when arson damaged or destroyed 60 homes between 1997 and 2000 in a neighborhood just west of the Ybor City historic district.

Jenkins said investigators weren't sure whether the blazes were the work of one serial arsonist or copycat fire starters.

A house fire extinguished early this morning at 1412 E. 21st Ave. was the 18th suspicious blaze and the fourth at that structure. Jenkins said that of the 18 fires, 10 were within the past month and a half, and two in the past 24 hours.

He asked residents of this blighted area to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity.

"Of course, we're worried," said Jackie Walters, 54, who lives around the corner from the house that burned Tuesday. She said the houses are old, mostly built out of wood and within feet of each other. "The next one might be right next door to you, and it could spread."

She said the neighborhood is filled with homeless people who sometimes break in to vacant houses on cold nights. The vacant house next to hers, she said, was like that. The owner came to board up the windows and doors recently and found four people sleeping inside.

Fourteen fires were set at vacant houses, and some of those were torched multiple times, Jenkins said. Four fires were set at houses where people lived. Four homes were in foreclosure, Jenkins said.

Investigators were sorting through property records to see who owned the buildings and whether there are any connections. He would not elaborate other than to say all the homes are wood-frame structures and that they are old and built close together.

"They burn a lot faster than newer homes," he said, and the risk of spreading from house to house is a concern.

The rash of arsons - which has caused an estimated $400,000 damage - has prompted authorities from several agencies to set up an arson task force. Anyone with information about the cases is asked to call (813) 274-7133.

The task force includes investigators from Tampa Fire Rescue, the state fire marshal's office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the Tampa Police Department.

Jenkins said that people who own vacant homes in the area should make sure the structures are secure and clear of yard debris to keep to a minimum potential fuel for fires.

Although no one has been injured or killed in the fires, that potential always exists, Jenkins said.

"These fires," he said, "are very serious occurrences."

This morning's fire on East 21st Avenue was reported at 1:20 and brought under control within 15 minutes, firefighters said. No one was injured. The fire caused about $5,000 in damage.

"We've been hitting these areas pretty hard for the past two days," said Tampa Fire Rescue arson investigator Al Alcala, "going into vacant houses to make sure they're boarded up and secure and also to do field interrogation reports."

Authorities are stopping people on the street to question them.

A decade ago, the sounds of sirens at night became a common occurrence in the Ybor City and the Tampa Heights neighborhoods, shrouding residents in fear that their homes would be next.

The arsonist or arsonists often set fire to vacant houses but also torched homes where people lived. Sometimes, fires started beneath houses in the Tampa Heights neighborhood where renovated homes were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

At one point, fires were set on three consecutive nights. Mostly, fires started in crawlspaces beneath the houses. Once, a firebug broke into a home and started a fire in the attic.

Authorities arrested Calvin Reed, then 34, and charged him with one of the 60 arsons. Although the arson charged was dropped, Reed was sentenced to a 30-year prison term on a weapons charge. After his arrest, the arsons stopped, said Tampa Fire Capt. Bill Wade.

Larry Younker, 75, lives two doors west of the structure damaged this morning. He said transients and drug users are common sights in the neighborhood. He's more worried about burglaries and theft than fires.

"I'm scared to go to the store," he said, "that I will come back and find my home broken in to."

He pointed to a smashed window on his Jeep and said burglars broke into his home this past week and stole a computer and a couple of guns.

"It is red hot around here," he said.