Victoria Park arsonist sets car ablaze
By Jaime Hernandez
Staff Writer
Posted September 29 2004
sun-sentinel.com
An arsonist set one car on fire and tried to ignite three others Tuesday
in Fort Lauderdale's Victoria Park neighborhood, a fire official said.
The first fire was reported about 5:30 a.m. outside an apartment complex
in the 900 block of Northeast 17th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue
Battalion Chief Christopher Weir said. Responding firefighters found the
car fully engulfed in flames and extinguished them within minutes.
Within the next several minutes, passers-by near the apartment complex
reported three other vehicles that appeared to be burning. Weir said
those fires were extinguished quickly because the vehicles did not
ignite completely, though toilet paper had been stuffed in their gas
caps.
The cars did sustain some charring damage, Weir said.
"Luckily, they know nothing about accelerants," said Nick Campofreda,
who owned one of the slightly burned cars. He blamed area drug dealers
for the fires, saying they have threatened him recently because they
think he has called police about them.
"All they know is how to set crack on fire," he said.
A shed adjacent to a unit in the apartment complex was also set ablaze.
Weir said all of the fires were intentionally set, but the shed fire was
most disturbing because an elderly woman was inside the apartment when
the blaze broke out. She was not hurt.
"That raised the bar, because whoever set the fire put this woman's life
in jeopardy," he said.
Fort Lauderdale police are investigating the fires. No arrests were
made, and Weir said he thinks only one person is responsible.
"I feel it's one person looking for a sick thrill," he said.
Liquid and other evidence gathered from the first car fire was being
analyzed at a Broward Sheriff's Office lab to determine how it was set.
Police also took the gas caps from the cars to try to recover the
arsonist's fingerprints, Weir said.
Firefighters have responded to similar car fires in the area at least
twice in the past year, Weir said. Investigators are looking into the
possibility that those fires are related to the ones on Tuesday.
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