11pm 2/27/12: Arson-Related Fires
6pm 2/27/12: Fires Ruled Arson
Nicholas County Person of Interest Video
UPDATE 2/27/12 @ 9:30 p.m.
NICHOLAS COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- The Nicholas County Sheriff's Department needs your help finding whoever set 17 fires there in the past month. Four were set just days ago.
It has left Nicholas County Sheriff Wetzel Bennett stunned.
"One of them was within 100 foot of my office right here. Not one of them, two of them. And the other was within 75 yards of the courthouse here," he said.
But there's a break in the case coming from surveillance video. Bennett believes this person might be connected to every single arson.
"It just shows an individual walking to the business and actually going into the business and then running from the business. And carrying something as he was running," Bennett said.
What was the person carrying? An accelerator that deputies believe he or she may have used to set some of the fires.
"It's pretty devastating to have something happen right here when this is the center of the county," Bennett said. "You have all of the agencies, the Summersville Police Department, Richwood Police Department, state police coming in and out of this facility all hours of the night. Someone to set it that close. That's really someone that's really got a grudge or something is going on there."
Bennett admits it's not the best video but hopes you might recognize the suspect's clothing or body language and help put an end to these rash of fires.
The sheriff's department said they're working on a number of leads and do have some suspects, but they're still looking for your help.
If you have any information you can call their communications line at (304) 872-7814.
According to a release from the West Virginia State Fire Marshal's Office, investigators with the Fire Marshal's Office got to Summersville early Friday morning to begin processing the fire scenes.
Several fires, one on Main Street, two on Church Street and another in the general are, broke out between 2 and 3 a.m. All four fires have been ruled arson, according to the release.
The first fire started at a vacant house along Main Street, and before the smoke could even disappear two other fires broke out along Church Street. Within the same hour, another vacant house caught fire about 5 miles away in Mt. Nebo. Of the buildings that caught fire -- Maloney's Sports Bar was the only building currently in use.
The West Virginia State Fire Marshal's Office is urging anyone with information about the fires to call the Arson Hotline.
The Hotline number is 1-800-233-FIRE (3473). The Arson Hotline is answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is a toll-free, nationwide number. Anyone who calls the hotline and provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of a person(s) responsible for setting a fire in the state of WV is eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,500.
Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for the latest information.
A sports bar, a former realty building and two vacant homes all caught fire Friday morning.
Maloney's Sports Bar was the only building currently in use.
“It's messed up,” Aaron Maloney, the owner said. “There’s a lot of black. It used to be blue and gold, but there's a lot of black in there right now.”
The bar was full of fans and priceless memorabilia just hours before the fire.
“The whole town is in an uproar over it,” Cynthia Lough from Summersville said.
Lough was set to have her mother's birthday party at Maloney’s next week, but that isn't the only fire upsetting her. A string of suspicious fires has the whole town talking.
“I just have no idea who would even want to do something like that; who would go through and just want to destroy people's businesses,” Lough said.
The first fire started at a vacant house along Main Street, and before the smoke could even disappear two other fires broke out along Church Street. Within the same hour, another vacant house caught fire about 5 miles away in Mt. Nebo.
"About a month ago, the building across the field caught on fire and two of my employees called 911,” Maloney said about the State Farm Insurance building behind the bar.
Maloney now fears that call may have sparked an act of revenge, but he's convinced someone will have to pay the price.
“Somebody's gonna brag about it and slip up,” he said.
If you have any information about these fires, call the state arson hotline at 1-800-233-FIRE.
The first fire was reported about 1:30 a.m. at a vacant house along Church Street near the Nicholas County Courthouse.
A firefighter with the Summersville Fire Department tells WSAZ.com when firefighters arrived on scene they noticed two other fires nearby. The firefighter says a fire was reported at a sports bar and at a building that used to be a realty business. Right now, that building is vacant.
Five fire departments responded to help fight the three fires.
Then, about 2 a.m. another fire was reported at an abandoned house in Mt. Nebo, about 10 miles south of Summersville. Firefighters with the Wilderness Fire Department were called off the Summersville fires to go fight the fire in Mt. Nebo.
No one was hurt.
All four structures were heavily damaged.
Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for the latest information.
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