WEST HARTFORD – Officers in Hartford and West Hartford are investigating a string of at least 13 small fires they believe were intentionally set Tuesday morning.
Lt. Eric Rocheleau of the West Hartford Police Department said they got a call around 1 a.m. Tuesday from a resident reporting a fire showing in the area of Prospect Avenue. That turned out to be a fire set in a clothing donation bin located right on the Hartford line.
Over the rest of the morning, both departments continued to receive calls for similar small fires in dumpsters and trash cans. One West Hartford call was for a fire to an American flag on a front porch. Police believe the fires are all connected.
West Hartford is investigating 4 fires on Park Road between 2 a.m. and 3a.m. and one fire on New Britain Avenue that came in around 7:45a.m. Hartford Police are investigating 8 of these fires in the Parkville Neighborhood that occurred between the hours of midnight and 2a.m. Tuesday.
“I think it’s horrible. It’s really sick that somebody has nothing better to do than to cause chaos in other people’s lives. I just think that’s really sad,” said Malika Powell of West Hartford, who woke up around 2:30a.m. to a garbage can fire on her front porch.
Arson detectives are working with Hartford and West Hartford officers on the investigation. Meanwhile, officers are also working to track down surveillance video to get leads on suspects.
“The dumpster fires are one thing, but when you start ramping it up with people inside buildings that’s surely a concern for us. So we do want people to call us if they did see anything, if they were out during that time frame last night,” said Lt. Rocheleau.
Anyone with information about these fires or anyone who has pertinent video is asked to contact police.