Arson investigation in Ybor City neighborhood continues

Things have cooled down considerably in a neighborhood of Ybor City just north of the historic district.

A 12-month-long string of 18 arson fires - including two within 24 hours last week - have without explanation stopped. It has been six days since the last blaze.

Last week, fire officials took the hunt for the arsonist or arsonists to the streets. They held a news conference in the heart of the V.M. Ybor neighborhood in front of a burned out house. They have saturated the neighborhood, stopping pedestrians and bicyclists and anyone else outside to question them.

Investigators also met with the V.M. Ybor Homeowners Association last week to answer questions and to ask for help.

Telephone hot lines and a Web site have been established so that anonymous tips can be delivered. Possible suspects have been spoken to, but no one has been charged.

A man last week named as a person of interest turned out to be just one of many people investigators have talked to, said Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade this morning.

He said the six-day hiatus from fires is difficult to explain, although such lapses between fires have occurred many times over the past 12 months when fires damaged 14 houses, 10 of which are vacant. Some of the houses have been torched more than once.

Wade said it could be all the investigators and police flooding the area just north of Interstate 4 between 15th Street and Interstate 275, that has doused, at least for now, the arson bug. The combined damage caused by the fires was set at about $400,000, investigators say. So far, no one has been injured or killed.

"Perhaps, it's the large police presence that is making the person uncomfortable," he said.

Investigators say they are not sure if the fires are the work of one serial arsonist or more than one, but evidence suggests the fires were all set in the same manner.

But they have stopped for the time being, he said.

"One investigator noted that several neighbors and residents have additional outdoor lighting," Wade said this morning. "It makes it easier for him to see down between the houses and in the dark areas where criminal activity and arson tend to begin.

"There were no fires this past week," Wade said. "Maybe the person was just trying to find his next opportunity and he hasn't just been able to find it."

Anyone with information about the arsons is asked to call the arson hotline at (813) 274-7133. The Web page tip address is: www.tampagov.net/fire.