Police and fire work together to stop alleyway arsons.

Windsor Police and Fire Rescue are cracking down on the recent increase of arson cases in Walkerville and other parts of Windsor.

In the past three weeks there have been 11 fires with 8 of them being deemed arson according to Windsor Police Services. The fires have shared a pattern of being started in alleyways and the buildings have been mostly vacant houses, garages or garbage said Windsor Fire and Rescue.

 

“It certainly doesn’t make sense. It causes people a lot of grief,” said Chief Fire Prevention Officer Lee Tome. “It also takes us away from other types of incidents.”

 

Tome said arson has been a longstanding issue for the department.

“Arson has always been a concern for us,” said Tome. “It can delay our response time.”

“We do see a pattern,” said senior constable for police Michael Akeata. “The pattern that we see is first of all the area and second of all that it seems to be the access point to access the building or structure is from the alley.”

 

Akeata is the is the detective assigned to the recent arson cases in the city. He said that Windsor Fire and and police have been working on these cases together since the end of October.

 

“It’s a long drawn out process,” said Akeata. “At this point in time we have no leads.”

 

“The media and the public have an important component to this,” said Akeata. “If anyone has anything, no matter how immaterial they believe it to be, that can get us started on a road to end this.”

 

Tome and Akeata both urge the public to keep an eye on their surroundings and to call the police, fire department, and crime stoppers if any information arises. Tome also says to dispose any garbage or flammable objects that may be used to start a fire.

You can call Crime Stoppers at 519-258-TIPS(8477).