Suspicious fires worry Seal Cove residents
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 | 8:44 AM NT
CBC News
Frustration and worry are growing in a tiny community on Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula, where residents believe they have an arsonist in their midst.
In Seal Cove, Conception Bay South, there have been five fires in two months. Police believe the blazes were deliberately set.
Two of those fires happened in a 90-minute span on Halloween night. A house was heavily damaged and an abandoned bus was destroyed. There was a third fire around the same time on Saturday night, but fire officials have since determined it was accidental.
Fires in September destroyed a house under construction in the community, which is about 40 kilometres from St. John's, along with several vehicles and tires.
Town resident George Murphy, who earlier in the fall organized a public meeting amid concern about the suspicious fires, said this week that people are being extra vigilant in monitoring movement in the community to find out who's been starting the fires.
"They're being watched," he told CBC News.
"They're being watched very closely. Hopefully, they're being buttonholed by all this. Hopefully they can't move and hopefully they're considering moving."
There haven't been any injuries reported in the fires.
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary is investigating. They say no arrests have been made.
