Wayne Plans To Hire Firefighting Prosecutor With Fund Raising Money
POSTED: Friday, December 18, 2009
UPDATED: 11:46 am EST December 18, 2009
DETROIT -- Arson is an old problem in Wayne County, and the situation is getting worse.With budgets tight and resources limited, arson cases often don't receive the attention they deserve in the prosecutor’s office, but there is a new effort to fight fire with funds.The Michigan Arson Prevention Committee is spearheading an initiative to raise money that will go toward hiring an assistant prosecutor and investigators who will focus on arson cases.“As far as I know, it’s very unique. It’s the first time ever that we have risen to the occasion,” said organizer Patricia Parr-Armelagos.With the number of unsolved cases climbing, the funding is a major boost for the Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy's office. “We are really hurting, we are bursting at the seams. We can’t cover all our core services. Now with something like this, it’s like a double benefit for us,” said Worthy at a recent fund raising event.The organization is seeing donations pour in from both the private and public sectors. The prosecutor’s office could see an increase in staff as early as January next year.
The Oakland County Sheriff ’s Office is mourning the loss of a canine who had a knack for sniffing out cases of arson.
Blaze, a German shepherd, died Monday, one day before his fifth birthday. He had a cancer-related illness.
“Blaze was a valued and loyal member of the OCSO team and we will miss him very much,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a statement released Wednesday.
“Even though his career was short, he had an outstanding record of service in arson investigation.”
Blaze was assigned to the Sheriff ’s Fire Investigations Unit. He was the only dog at the Sheriff ’s Office trained in arson investigation.
Born in Holland, Blaze was purchased with a $5,000 donation from Farm Bureau Insurance Company.
Blaze and his handler, Deputy Tom Kangas, graduated in July 2006 from an intensive five-week training session at the Oakland Police Academy.
Blaze responded to at least 220 calls for service and played a role in the arrest of 37 people for arson-related crimes during his career with the Sheriff ’s Office.
On his very first day on the job, Blaze helped Pontiac police officers and firefighters by detecting two separate areas where accelerant was used to start a fire at a church.
He also detected accelerants on a person who eventually confessed to starting a fire at a Royal Oak school that caused more than $1 million in damage.
Kangas said in addition to working on fire investigations, Blaze helped with building and area searches. He also provided officer protection.
“He was a real pleasure to work with. I really had no problems with him from day
one, at home or at work,” Kangas said.
Blaze lived in Howell with Kangas and his wife, Rebecca, and their 10 children, who range in age from 4 to 19. He had a good temperament and loved playing catch with children of all ages. Blaze, who recently had not been eating that much, was diagnosed with lymphoma Dec. 8. He had his first dose of chemotherapy a week ago today.
He died early Monday morning at home.
“Blaze will never be replaced. They’re like humans — nobody’s the same,” Kangas said. “He seemed like the best dog.”
HOUGHTON LAKE—The fire that engulfed the local summer hot spot, Ice Cream Oasis, is still under investigation.
Arson has not been ruled out at this time.
The Michigan State Fire Marshal is currently investigating the blaze to the Houghton Lake business and so far, “It’s suspicious,” Roscommon County Sheriff Randy Stevenson said.
“It’s under investigation, we’re waiting for the fire marshal to go through the debris and make a determination,” he said.
Firefighters were dispatched to the Houghton Lake business Saturday Oct. 17 around 6 p.m. to extinguish the fire. Upon arrival, Markey Township Fire Department Captain Nate Stearns said there was visible smoke coming from the back of the building. He said the fire had been completely extinguished three hours later.
Around 6 a.m. Sunday, firefighters were called back to the ice cream shop to extinguish another blaze. The cause of the second fire is unknown. Stearns said that it is always possible that the original fire rekindled, but has doubts in this case. Stevenson said the second fire originated from a different spot than the original.
“It wasn’t in the same place,” Stevenson said.
He said the incident became suspicious after the second fire. Due to the investigation, officials are not releasing the cause of the original fire.
Firefighters put the second fire out at 8:22 a.m. Stearns said.
The charred business is owned by William Spearman but was being run by his son.
There was no one in the building at the time of the fire and no injuries.
The Markey Township Fire Department, Denton Township Fire Department and Gerrish Township Fire Department were on scene.
$1M pledged to fight rising number of torched homes
Santiago Esparza / The Detroit News
Detroit -- A coalition of insurance companies has vowed to snuff out arson in Wayne County and pledged to pay for two investigators and an assistant prosecutor to attack the problem.
Half of all fires in the county and 10 percent in the state are labeled arson or suspicious, according to the Michigan Insurance Fraud Awareness Coalition. So the coalition plans to sink $1 million into a two-year pilot program that begins Jan. 1.
The initiative is believed to be one of the first of its kind in the nation, coalition spokeswoman Lori Conarton said. About $140,000 has been raised through donations for the program since September.
The announcement comes after there were 11 arsons reported Sunday in the city within 90 minutes on six streets on Detroit's east side and comes as Wayne County and Detroit remain at the center of the national foreclosure crisis. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy welcomes the help because the county does not have the resources to make fighting arson a higher priority, she said. "People can come into Wayne County and have a pretty good chance of getting away with it," Worthy said of arsonists during a press conference Tuesday announcing the program. "That is what we want to stop."
Brian Peppler, board president of the Michigan Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, said the private funding would have to be closely monitored to ensure it is being used properly, just like federal grants that are earmarked for specific purposes. He said clear boundaries would have to be established by Worthy.
"It is a sad day when we have private people come through and fund basic services that the government is supposed to provide," said Peppler, the Chippewa County prosecutor.
The coalition has pledges from insurance companies and businesses to cover the money, said Patricia Parr-Armelagos, a State Farm insurance agent.
While other anti-crime Michigan programs such as HEAT, which tries to reduce auto theft, and Crimestoppers, which seeks tips to solve crimes, rely on donations, none fund public positions. In the Wayne County insurance program, the investigators and assistant prosecutor would report to Worthy's office.
Arson cases soar
Stopping the arson will be no easy task.
There were 6,486 arsons investigated by the Detroit Fire Department's Arson Squad in 2008. That is a 27.8 percent increase over the squad's 5,074 cases in 2004, said Gery Victor, the squad's chief. In addition, arson-related insurance fraud in Detroit is up roughly 40 percent from 2005 to 2008, he said.
In 2008, the Detroit Fire Department said the city had about 18 arsons or suspicious fires daily. Detroit has the most arsons of any community in the county, the coalition said. Outside Detroit, suspicious property fires in Michigan jumped nearly 50 percent between 2006 and 2008, reaching 4,895, or more than 13 suspected arsons a day.
Of Michigan's 83 counties, 70 have seen arson rise, according to the state fire marshal's office. The insurance coalition said the economy has caused some to turn to arson to avoid foreclosure.
"This is something that is of concern to us and that we are taking very seriously," Detroit Police Chief Warren Evans said in a statement. "We will be stepping up uniform and plainclothes patrols and surveillance in that area."
There were about 101,000 vacant housing units in Detroit in 2008, more than double the number in 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
After the Sunday arson spike, officials said they are particularly concerned about Angels' and Halloween nights, which had high levels of arsons in the 1980s. City officials are already requesting patrol volunteers.
In 1984, fires on the day before Halloween, for years known as Devil's Night, peaked when 810 fires were set within a three-day period.
As the city has been plagued with foreclosures and an unemployment rate above 28 percent, fire officials have said that some despairing owners are risking prison to get out of debt, and vacant, foreclosed homes are being torched.
Many arsons are insurance scams that drive up the cost of premiums from $200 to $300 a year in Michigan, said Pete Kuhnmuench, executive director of the Insurance Institute of Michigan and a coalition member.
Some people burn down their property and lie about doing it to collect on insurance policies, which is a criminal act of fraud, coalition members said.
The crime costs policyholders in the state $3 billion a year in Michigan, he said.
"We all pay for insurance fraud," Kuhnmuench said. "It really is picking the pockets of our Michigan insurance holders."
Burned homes take toll
John George, founder of Motor City Blight Busters, said the real toll is the effect of living among burned out husks of houses, especially as it pertains to young people. "Quite frankly, allowing children to grow up in and around this kind of negative energy is child abuse," he said. "We are warping their sense of self-worth. We must come together and do a better job because we are failing our kids."
George's nonprofit has helped to tear down 300 such homes, rebuild 300 others and build 300 more in place of ones torn down.
For the arson squad in Detroit, a key component to solving arsons is getting patrols formed year-round, not just as Angels' Night nears, Victor said. "It is about the volunteers," Victor said. "We really need the citizens to be involved."
Worthy said five assistant prosecutors recently attended a training session conducted by the coalition about arson. Three of them have indicated they want the anti-arson position, she said.
"There is going to be a competition for this prestigious job," she said.
Friday, December 18, 2009 at 01:09PM 