Five arsons in Youngstown in two hours
Five arsons are set within two hours in Youngstown overnight, and while four were vacant homes, one was a Mahoning Avenue business.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Five arsons are set within two hours in Youngstown overnight, and while four were vacant homes, one was a Mahoning Avenue business.
The arsonists were so bold, three of the fires were set just two minutes away from the Bella Vista Fire Station.
The first of the five fires began burning at 2:03 a.m. at Schulte's Thrift on Mahoning Avenue. The second was at 2:24 a.m. at a vacant home on Wellington that suffered a lot of damage to the front of the home.
Then by 3:00 a.m. until 4:05 a.m. there were three more vacant house fires on Midland Avenue. All on Youngstown's Westside.
Youngstown Fire Chief Barry Finley said, "The crews up the street from here was fighting one fire turned around and see that they had lit one across the street."
While no one has been arrested, the Youngstown's Arson Investigator feels positive that teenagers are responsible for torching the five properties.
He believes they likely walked from one location to another, setting the outside of the properties on fire.
The owners of Schulte's Thrift are questioning why someone would destroy what they've worked for?
Beth Schulte's husband Fred owns the business, "We're devastated because we try so much to help our community and we can't believe someone from this community would ever do that to us."
The suspects set the outside carport on fire and the flames were so intense they blew out two windows, destroying not only items stored in the carport, turning furniture into ashes. The inside of the store was filled with smoke, some clothing was destroyed and it melted the lighting in the appliance room.
But it's during the worst times, that you see the good in others. At Schulte's Thrift, some customers have come out to help with the cleanup.
Stacie Gilmore of Youngstown says she ran over and started helping right away when she heard the news, "I cried like a baby. Because this man is amazing because he helps our community and I can't believe that somebody would come and do this to him. It's just unbelievable. So, I said I gotta come do what I do, put some muscle in and get it cleaned up."
A $5,000 Reward is being offered for any information that leads to an arrest in the arsons. Call (330) 782-0055.
