My friend Paul was looking off his balcony in his Northampton apartment when he saw an orange glow a couple of streets over.  He thought it was a fire.  He called the fired department as he ran over to investigate.  No need.  The firetrucks and cops were everywhere by the time he got there -- and three more of the nine fires in that Ward 3 neighborhood had been set.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSgEhjDxWIo

The guy who pops up at about 0:49 in this news clip is named Glenn, not Gary, and I have known him and worked with him for 17 years. That's the remains of Glenn's Union Street house with the purple shudders.  Glenn's 15-year-old son Henry heard a big noise, jumped out of bed, saw the fire starting downstairs, roused his father, grabbed their two cats, and they all got out of their house onto the freezing sidewalk in time to watch their home's interior burst like a book of matches.

Around the corner, Paul Yeskie, 81, and his 39-year-old disabled son were not so fortunate as Glenn; they both perished in the flames that consumed their Fair Street home.  They better catch these bastards.  I don't care if it takes the FBI and the ATF.  They have to catch them and throw them in prison for homicide and all the other charges and make sure they stay in prison forever!

http://www.gazettenet.com/2009/12/28/arsonist-stalks-northampton

Over a period of about 90 minutes, nine homes were either gutted or rendered uninhabitable and a car was torched out front of an apartment building, presumably by the same sicko pyromaniacs.  Though I don't live in Northampton anymore -- I live two towns over in Amherst -- I have lived in Noho twice in my life.  Just from talking to the few people I have over the past couple of days, everybody knows somebody affected directly or indirectly by the conflagrations.  

It's hard to pin a motive for such a series of random arsons in a single city neighborhood.

My sister lives across town in the Florence section and was the first to tell me of the blazes.  I had just driven back from upstate New York where I spent xmas.  I didn't learn until Monday afternoon that Glenn's house got torched. Another volunteer at the UMass radio station here in Amherst, where Glenn is faculty advisor, told me.  I was shocked.  He's doing okay considering the circumstances.  He has a social network in the area and some emergency assistance from the Red Cross.  I hope the others who survived these incursions have a good place to bed down tonight because it's going to be the coldest night so far this season.

Meanwhile, the evil-doers are still at large and everybody in Noho feels nervous.  Who knows the fire starters could take a short ride east on Route 9 to Amherst.  The colleges are on recess.  Not many people patrolling this area.  Too cold, besides they need them all trying to clean up the mess in Northampton.  Well, I figure I live off a cul de sac and no one's gonna notice 'em out back in the woods.  Maybe I'll be next.  Nah, I don't think it will happen to me.  On the other hand, Glenn didn't think it would happen to him when he went to bed on Saturday night.  As Glenn's son told the local paper, "I'll never say 'it won't happen to me' again!"

:o

When they catch the a**hole, he or they will probably be charged with some kind of Unlawful killing charge rather than homicide. What did they think would happen?  They should have the book thrown at them....and this type of crime is an indicator towards sociopath tendencies..

The defence of 'youth' does not cut it in this case. They must be made accountable...

Sorry to hear that your buddy's house burned down, Max, but I'm glad he came out alive.

Yeah, the scum-bag (or bags) who started this fire need to be found and then throw the book at them.  If somebody can make a federal charge stick (burning down one's house certainly is a civil rights violation) that would be the best case, as the Federal system no longer has parole.

There's a substantial chance that the arsonist is a fireman, as a surprisingly high % of arson is caused by firemen who dig "coming to the rescue"...  :-\\

I hope that those ***holes, burn in Hell, for what they did.
>:(

WOW!!! My thoughts go out to all the victims (in this case the entire town). I'm sure they will catch the bastard(s) who did this. They will get what is coming to them.



Cat

WOW!!! My thoughts go out to all the victims (in this case the entire town). I'm sure they will catch the bastard(s) who did this. They will get what is coming to them.

Cat


Yep.  Those mofos deserve to get the ultimate hot foot.

Something like that happened close to where I live.  12 houses were torched.  Turns out they guy worked for the fire department. :o  Max don't worry they'll catch the person(s) that did it.  Just hope the townspeople don't get a crack at him.

Something like that happened close to where I live.  12 houses were torched.  Turns out they guy worked for the fire department. :o  Max don't worry they'll catch the person(s) that did it.  Just hope the townspeople don't get a crack at him.


:o

WTF?

Thanks guys.  Yeah, it looks like the survivors of the blazes are going to do about as well as survivors could do.  There's a lot of community support for the victims of the crime and there are relatively few of them.  You've seen in a city near you where a big apartment building gets a bad fire and leaves 100 homeless in a city without any money.  Northampton is relatively affluent compared to cities around here such as Holyoke and Springfield, and it's much smaller.

It hadn't occurred to me, as LB and Reynolds pointed out, that the perpetrator could be a firefighter gone evil.  Makes sense.  To be able torch nine houses in 75 minutes all in the same neighborhood and not get caught suggests some expertise on how house fires best catch and spread. 

I meant homicide as a general term for one person killing another.  Murder is more of a legal term.  However, what I hope the perps get (if they're ever caught) is felony murder -- that is a charge of homicide raised to murder because it was committed during the perpetration of yet another felony, arson in this case.  I'm against the death penalty in any case, but whoever did this needs to be taken out of circulation to protect the rest of us.  The world is not your marshmallow, okay?
::)

Authorities have detained a suspect in the blazes.  Anthony Baye, 25-year-old city man who lives in the Hawley Street neighborhood, which is about a mile from where the worst of the arson occurred on December 27th. 

http://www.wggb.com/Global/story.asp?S=11768933

I didn't know the kid, but I know I have seen him around town.  There wasn't much to distinguish him from other sour-looking hoodlums who loiter downtown.  He was initially questioned by police after he was caught lurking in the area  by surveillance equipment at the of the fires.  He told the cops he was in the neighborhood to visit his girlfriend.  It turns out that was a lie.

I gather his lawyer told him to shut up.  If I was his lawyer, I would have told him exactly the same. 
:-X

However, Baye remains in detention without bail.  I just hope they got the right guy and the only guy. 

Hey Max, what say we round up a little posse and give this guy a righteous arse kicking?  You got any Westies up there who could help out? ???

;D

Hey Max, what say we round up a little posse and give this guy a righteous arse kicking?  You got any Westies up there who could help out? ???

;D


I can fly in from the north, and help kick their sorry **** too, if you are interested.

It turns out the Anthony Baye, the suspect, was a regular at the same bar I where I was a regular.  Past tense for him because he's in the jailhouse now.  Past tense for me because semi-psychotic azzholes like him hung out at Packard's and I got sick of hanging around with them.  I think I might have shot a game of pool or two with that kid before last call one night.  I can't say for sure 'cos a lot of Northampton doojbags look kinda like him, and I was probably soused. 
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/15/tard.gif

When they transfer Mr. Baye to Hampshire County House of Corrections, he will get his ass kicked many times.  No need to worry about that part.

Again, I'm hearing the familiar story:  He was a quiet man who kept to himself and never made any trouble and no one ever thought he'd do something like go on an arson spree!

::)

I was watching the news, this guy had to have had some help.  When I woke up to this story I thought it was a retrospective of many separate fires, not one night of fires.  There is more to this story and he better come clean and give up his buddies.  Those two deaths are unforgivable.  >:(

I was watching the news, this guy had to have had some help.  When I woke up to this story I thought it was a retrospective of many separate fires, not one night of fires.  There is more to this story and he better come clean and give up his buddies.  Those two deaths are unforgivable.   >:(


I too would be quite surprised if Baye could have set all those fires himself.  It's not impossible, just unlikely.  However, if I was his lawyer, I would tell him to hold out on naming names until they can negotiate a plea bargain.  Baye might not even be the ringleader.  Morally, Baye should step up and spill his guts.  Legally, that would be the dumbest thing he could possibly do right now. 

Meanwhile, my friend Glenn and his sons are staying in a hotel paid for by insurance while they try and piece their lives back together.  I saw Glenn the other day.  He was in surprisingly good spirits.  The trauma might not hit them until after the crisis is over and they're out of "survival mode."
:(

I too would be quite surprised if Baye could have set all those fires himself.  It's not impossible, just unlikely.   However, if I was his lawyer, I would tell him to hold out on naming names until they can negotiate a plea bargain.  Baye might not even be the ringleader.  Morally, Baye should step up and spill his guts.  Legally, that would be the dumbest thing he could possibly do right now. 

Meanwhile, my friend Glenn and his sons are staying in a hotel paid for by insurance while they try and piece their lives back together.  I saw Glenn the other day.  He was in surprisingly good spirits.  The trauma might not hit them until after the crisis is over and they're out of "survival mode."
:(


It isn't like if the house was blown up by the gas company, at least there they would have deep pockets to piece things back together. 

I hope that this ****** is caught!

>:(

I hope that this ****** is caught!

>:(


The DA office is pretty damn sure about this creep they detained.  They're not releasing all the details yet.