GORHAM — An accidental fire at a house in southern Gorham early Wednesday may actually have been related to a series of suspicious fires in the northwestern part of town, experts said Thursday.

People who study fire-setting said the attention that the predawn fire at 294 County Road drew may have prodded an arsonist to act again, setting fire to an unoccupied house on Dingley Spring Road on Wednesday night.

“The fire setter is saying, ‘Wait a minute. … This is my thing. Here’s a fire to prove this is my thing,’” said Dian Williams, head of the Center for Arson Research Inc. in Philadelphia and a leading authority on arson.

Firefighters quickly doused Wednesday night’s fire, which was set on the back wall of a recently built vacant house, preventing extensive damage.

But residents in the area continue to feel the anxiety of not knowing when, and why, the arsonist may strike again.

“Fires that generally start in structures like this are almost always thrill-seeker fires,” Williams said. “(Arsonists) love a lot of attention and, with that, how baffled everybody is.”

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They often feel a sense of superiority from pulling off the crime, she said.

Investigators know a little, and suspect more, about the arsonist.

The person has been using an accelerant such as gasoline to start the fires, and appears to live in the area, or at least is very familiar with it.

“The type of situation we’re looking at here is really a splash and dash — throw some gas, light it and take off. It’s not like it’s too sophisticated,” said acting state Fire Marshal Joseph Thomas.

Thomas agrees that there’s a good chance Wednesday night’s fire was a response to the early morning fire that grabbed the headlines.

Residents are being asked to remain vigilant and help solve the case by reporting any suspicious behavior they see. Teams from the Gorham police and fire departments and the state Fire Marshal’s Office are going door-to-door, questioning residents and distributing fliers.

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Police are counting on the public’s help, hoping that many “eyes and ears” will yield clues that lead them to a suspect.

“It’s just a matter of piecing stuff together to make all the pieces fit to put a case together,” said Gorham Police Chief Ron Shepard. Something that may seem unremarkable, like a particular vehicle in the area, can be significant if something similar was seen at another fire scene.

Wednesday’s fire on Dingley Spring Road — a busy crossover between routes 114 and 25 — occurred at 8:40 p.m., while some drivers probably were passing.

Five fire marshal’s investigators and four police officers are dedicated to the case. In addition, Gorham police are saturating the area where the fires have occurred, and beefing up patrols in other areas of town so they don’t become targets, Shepard said.

“The entire department is really keyed up to this and they’re all doing their part, trying to solve it,” he said.

The Maine Forest Service is offering the use of a helicopter, in case investigators want to get a bird’s-eye view of the trails that criss-cross the forest in the area where the fires have occurred.

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Investigators have used dogs to scour the woods, but there appears to be little activity there, suggesting the person is more likely moving by road, Thomas said.

“If they’re carrying gas, I don’t think they’re going to be stomping through the woods,” he said.

The first of this month’s five suspicious fires occurred at 70 Spiller Road. The next occurred on nearby Mighty Street. The third occurred on Great Falls Road, and the fourth at 215 Buck St. on Easter Sunday. All but the fire on Buck Street have been confirmed as arson.

Even though residential fires do not constitute a federal crime, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is pitching in with one of its fire investigators.

“And we are looking at whether this could benefit from having our profiler look at this,” said Dale Armstrong, resident agent in charge for the ATF in Maine.

There is urgency in the investigation.

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The fires have been set in unoccupied buildings, but an arsonist who fits that profile may do more, said Williams, the arson expert.

“We know that thrill seekers escalate the fire-setting behavior,” Williams said. “Their fires grow. They become more dramatic. There are more risks being taken. Those risks are what make those fires satisfying to begin with.”

Williams said the initial fires may well be experimentation, as an arsonist learns how long it takes police and firefighters to respond. That could be why the arsonist targets vacant buildings, she said.

People who set fires out of curiosity, to see what happens, are generally young, said Thomas. People who set fires as a group tend to be middle-school age or a little older.

Revenge or financial motives don’t appear likely in Gorham because the properties are unrelated beyond their geography.

“When you get into sociological, psychopathic-type activity, generally it is done by a loner,” Thomas said. Beyond that, authorities are still trying to get a good idea of who they are seeking.

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“We don’t really have any composite,” he said. “We just have some simplistic fires” at buildings that were targets of opportunity because they were accessible.

Investigators will continue to analyze the fires, looking for clues to the person’s motivation and, ultimately, their identity.

Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

dhench@pressherald.com

 


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