The city is rightfully rattled. An arsonist is or arsonists are on the loose and two people have perished along with hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage. The story is making national news.
The basic direction we've been given amounts to taking in our trash, locking the doors of our homes and vehicles, checking the batteries in our smoke detectors, leaving our outside lights on at night and keeping watch out our windows. People should remove gasoline or paint thinners and the like from their sheds and garages and clean debris from porches and around dwellings.
Essentially the city is held captive and the stone-faced press conference attended by Governor Patrick did little to quell my concerns or those of my neighbors as arsonists are not frequently apprehended.
Fire and law enforcement personnel need help from the eyes and ears of local residents. Despite our fears we must work together in an attempt to flush out those who would harm us. Tips can be called in to the State Police at the Northwestern District Attorney's Office at 413-586-5150, Northampton Public Safety at 413-587-1100 or to the Massachusetts State Arson Watch Hotline at 800-682-9229. Up to a $5 thousand reward is offered through the hotline.
Donations to help the vicitims can be made at the Pioneer Valley Red Cross online or by calling it at 413-586-8887.
What is the point of these fires? Successfully answering this question holds a key to stopping future assaults. Apparently the semi-regular alleged arsons occurring downtown over the past few years in Ward 3 did not generate the type of reaction the perpetrator hoped for. Although it is speculation all these fires are connected or that the perp is even following the news, yesterday's tragedies constitute a larger scale attack on the city and its residents and no one knows why this is happening.
The city needs ideas that might help. For instance the University of Massachusetts Public Safety Department operates an emergency text messaging service on its campus of twenty-five thousand plus students. Like Twitter, those registered receive up to the minute text alerts when danger is lurking on campus. Northampton could try something similar which would assist in alerting people of pending danger during sleeping hours, etc.
As well perhaps Neighborhood Associations need to coordinate with Northampton's public safety personnel some heightened neighborhood patrols or watches.
Additionally, maybe Northampton should explore the training of volunteer firefighters as some other local municipalities do.
Below are a couple of links that provide background on arsonists and some measures which can be taken to mitigate their negative impacts on society.
Attacking the Violent Crime of Arson (PDF) from the United States Fire Administration
A Motive-Based Offender Analysis of Serial Arsonists is available at interFire.org at: http://www.interfire.org/features/serialarsonists/motive_based/cover.asp
