Police released the third and final report from three fires
ignited in the Hollister area last week, which investigators
suspect are the work of one individual or group of arsonists.
Investigators believe the porch fire at 1295 San Benito St. on
Tuesday at about 2:30 p.m. was started when someone lit a cloth
covering a plastic table on the stoop, according to Capt. Bob
Brooks of the Hollister Police Department.
Police released the third and final report from three fires ignited in the Hollister area last week, which investigators suspect are the work of one individual or group of arsonists.
Investigators believe the porch fire at 1295 San Benito St. on Tuesday at about 2:30 p.m. was started when someone lit a cloth covering a plastic table on the stoop, according to Capt. Bob Brooks of the Hollister Police Department.
The other two fires occurred on the east end of town at two houses, also on porches – 1191 El Toro Drive and 45 Sunrise Drive. Those two fires were announced on the county dispatch four minutes apart at around 2 a.m. – about 12 hours after the San Benito Street fire. Nobody was injured from the three suspected acts of arson.
Authorities suspect the fires were purposefully ignited by the same person or group – they alluded to the close timing of the three fires and the suspected use of a flammable liquid in all the instances, according to Fire Marshal Mike O’Connor.
They’re also considering a burglary at Community Pantry as possibly being linked, along with a car fire nearly two weeks ago.
The resident of the house on San Benito Street was not home when it happened, according to the report. A nearby neighbor saw the flames on the table and extinguished it. The report did not detail how the neighbor put out the flames and it did not include the person’s name.
The neighbor merely left a note for the resident, who is a woman, Brooks said, and did not call the Fire Department or Police Department.
The resident realized there had been a fire Wednesday when she came home and read the note. She immediately called authorities.
Though Brooks called the neighbor who extinguished it a “good Samaritan” for the actions, he said people should call the Fire Department anytime a fire occurs.
“Even if they think they put the fire out, they should always call the Fire Department to ensure it,” Brooks said.
Brooks said the Police Department also suspects the fires could be related. O’Connor is heading up the investigation with an investigator from the California Department of Forestry.
Anyone with information on the fires should call O’Connor at 636-4325.
