BERLIN, N.H. (AP) – In Berlin, they’ve becoming a familiar sight: burned out buildings destroyed by a dozen big fires in less than a year.
“I used to live in that,” said Lu Schunemann, 50, pointing to one charred building. “It was run down, the landlord didn’t do anything with it. That’s 90 percent of Berlin, I think.”
State investigators won’t say much about the cause of the fires, except to say they don’t believe they are the work of a single arsonist. Only six appear to have been intentionally set. Not all the fires appear to be related and the causes of some are still unknown.
“Somebody’s not burning down Berlin,” said John Southwell, an investigator with the state Fire Marshal’s Office.
In January, a Main Street apartment fire killed three people. A month later, fire destroyed buildings on the other side of town. Both were ruled accidental.
Yet rumors of an arsonist persist in Berlin, even after officials have discounted them.
Anita Bergeron can’t sleep through the night because of her fear of fires. Every morning she wakes up at 2:30, walks to her porch and scans the neighborhood, sniffing for smoke and listening for fire engines.
“I hope they catch him soon,” she said. “Because if they don’t, more people could get killed.”
“People are tense, nervous,” said Robert Skaradosky, who has lived in Berlin for 30 years.
In the aftermath of the first fires, the Fire Marshal’s office inspected 100 buildings in Berlin. Some buildings, deemed immediately dangerous, were shut down. Meanwhile, city officials have been swamped trying to deal with getting hazards in other risky buildings fixed. Working through the courts, it can take six months ore more to force landlords to fix up their buildings, said City Manager Pat MacQueen.
“It’s a long, drawn-out, expensive process,” he said. “One mistake and we’ve lost the whole thing. … It’s a frustrating process here in Berlin.”
The economically depressed city is filled with abandoned, poorly kept buildings – a recent count by the city estimated 500 dilapidated buildings. Many of the old buildings are made of wood, making them vulnerable to fire, said Fire Chief Randall Trull.
Mike Mackey moved from Whitefield to Berlin to take advantage of cheap property prices. His house, bought for $53,000 in October, is next to an apartment building. Fear of fire next door means he doesn’t park in his driveway.
“It’s like a gold mine here, but it’s burning down,” he said.
—
Information from: Concord Monitor, http://www.cmonitor.com
AP-ES-08-19-07 1420EDT
Send questions/comments to the editors.
