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Medford arsonist credited with 16 fires Dumpsters, trash piles near buildings have been suspect's primary targets By JIM DAVIS A firebug who police believe set at least 16 fires in the same area of Medford over the past year has caused about $70,000 in damage, police said this week. The arsonist, who struck again last weekend, sets small fires in Dumpsters or trash piled next to buildings. Some of the fires have spread into large blazes, engulfing the buildings. "They need to get this guy -- he's a sicko," said Allen Forrette, who owns apartments that were damaged early Saturday. Medford police Lt. Tim George said police believe the fires are the work of one person. "One of the frustrating things about this is that it will stop for a while and then it will start up again," George said. The fires are occurring within a 10- to 15-block radius around the intersection of Jackson Street and Crater Lake Avenue. The arsonist appears to be using the same technique. He or she is choosing piles of trash, boxes to be recycled or trash bins full of garbage that are against businesses, apartments and other buildings. The arsonist then lights the garbage. The arsonist is not using gasoline or other accelerants, George said. Sometimes the fire spreads, sometimes it doesn't. No one has been injured in any of the fires, but George said this arson could eventually become tragic. "I wouldn't brush these off as just being trash fires," George said. "We've been fortunate that these fires have been discovered early," he said. "That's not to say the next one doesn't catch a home or an apartment on fire." The fires are also doing more than property damage. Jan Weitman owned CJ's Style Salon at 24 Crater Lake Ave. in Medford. The building that housed her business burned earlier this year in a fire that started in a Dumpster. Weitman reopened her shop two and a half months after the blaze, but she sold the business in July. "After going back in there and feeling the ghost of the fire -- it was too weird," Weitman said. "It was too scary. I was worried that it was going to happen again. The whacko." She is now letting people know about the arsonist. "Every time I see boxes or newspapers or anything outside of buildings, I warn people not to leave it out there," Weitman said. The most recent victims were Forrette and his tenants at 826 Bennett Ave. The arsonist set garbage in a Dumpster on fire in the alley behind Bennett. The fire spread to a garage that is attached to the apartments. It caused $3,000 damage. Charles A. Nelson, who lives at the apartments, said a stranger banged on his door at about 12:40 a.m. Saturday. He looked out the door to see smoke pouring from the garages. "If that fire had spread it would have taken out the garages and maybe the apartments," Nelson said. Fortunately, Bob Gass, the Medford police department chaplain, was driving home late that night, spotted the blaze and called firefighters, said Forrette, who has owned the apartments since 1987. "We were lucky because that could have really took off and went," Forrette said. Police and firefighters have tried to get the information about the firebug out to the public, George said. Detectives have gone door-to-door talking with people, warning them against stacking garbage and recycling against their buildings. George said they have also been asking people to keep an eye out for the arsonist. "The odds of us catching this subject have got to be improving," George said. "The more times you do something, the more likely you are to be caught." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA