Agitator In Chief
On Twitter: @BaltoSpectator
- 29 July 2019 -- 11 fires burned within blocks of each other in the Edmondson Village area including: six house fires, four trash fires and one car fire.
- 22 November 2019 -- 10 businesses were destroyed or badly damaged after a three alarm fire rips through Edmondson Village Shopping Center in the early morning overnight hours.
- 1-2 December 2019 -- 11 separate fires in 24 destroy hours destroy vacant homes within the same general vicinity of each other in southwest Baltimore.
- 2-7 December 2019 a total of 17 fires of undetermined cause occurred in several southwest Baltimore communities.
- 2 January 2020 -- fire raced through the 3700 block of Edmondson Ave., destroying multiple homes, displacing multiple residents. Three additional fires occured within half a mile in the immediate aftermath.
OFFICIAL RESPONSE LACKING
If there is a serial arsonist, or even a gang of arsonists running around setting things on fire, the people of Baltimore deserve to know. They also need to know what's being done about it.
Like with so many other matters regarding public safety, the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore seem to not view this dangerous situation as a pressing priority.
On 7 December, Council President Brandon Scott announced there would be a "public hearing to investigate the recent spate of fires and the agencies’ response" scheduled for 10 December. After being inexplicably postponed, the hearing as yet to happen.
Malicious arson is not new to Baltimore. There is actually a long history of destructive infernos, including homicides resulting from fires intentionally set.
So far with the most recent fires, the city has been incredibly fortunate in not seeing serious injury or death. But one has to wonder if this luck may one day fizzle out.
Despite a couple of arrests in December, very little has been said. There have been no real updates.
No stated motives, m.o., or any other details. In fact almost immediately after the arrests, there were numerous other fires with undetermined causes. In short, there is absolutely no guarantee authorities have the right people in custody, or that the ones taken in custody were the only people responsible for all of the fires.
As with the unprecedented, record setting homicides of 2019, we can expect the carnage to continue while leadership wishes you'd simply not notice or talk about it.
So far with the most recent fires, the city has been incredibly fortunate in not seeing serious injury or death. But one has to wonder if this luck may one day fizzle out.
Despite a couple of arrests in December, very little has been said. There have been no real updates.
No stated motives, m.o., or any other details. In fact almost immediately after the arrests, there were numerous other fires with undetermined causes. In short, there is absolutely no guarantee authorities have the right people in custody, or that the ones taken in custody were the only people responsible for all of the fires.
As with the unprecedented, record setting homicides of 2019, we can expect the carnage to continue while leadership wishes you'd simply not notice or talk about it.
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"As long as I continue to breathe, as long as there's injustice in this world, I will use the voice that God has given me to speak against it."
-- James MacArthur