Arson No. 57: Mayor Joe Riley pleads for community's help

Grace Beahm // The Post and Courier

College of Charleston senior Allison Hammons salvages a few personal items in the wake of a Thursday morning fire at her house on Cannon Street.

A wooden porch.

College kids asleep.

An arsonist lurking through downtown Charleston before dawn.

In nearly a decade, 57 homes have been set on fire in neighborhoods straddling the Crosstown Expressway. Once again, baffled investigators are pleading for clues.

Thursday morning, the arsonist or group of arsonists struck, this time at a two-story home on Cannon Street.

"This fire was very serious in nature and could have been catastrophic," Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said during a press conference later at City Hall to announce a $25,000 reward. "We need the community's help."

As in many of the fires, the one Thursday at 54 Cannon St. began about 4:30 a.m., before the early risers come out and after the night owls have turned in.

Photo Gallery

Cannon Street Fire

And it also began on a porch, in this case at the foot of a staircase.

Mike Sullivan, a neighbor, was sleeping on his couch when he saw an orange glow through the blinds of his window.

The next few minutes were a blur of adrenaline and screams.

Sullivan said he ran out of the house in his bare feet, saw a small fire on his neighbor's porch at the foot of stairs leading to the second floor, and ran back to get a fire extinguisher.

Meanwhile, in the burning house, downstairs resident Allison Hammons said she heard pounding on her door, looked outside and saw the staircase on fire.

She woke up her roommates and rushed out with their dog. No one could get up or down the stairs. "Fortunately (the upstairs residents) woke up on their own or we wouldn't have been able to wake them up," said Hammons, a College of Charleston student.

As people rushed out of the house, Sullivan tried to put out the fire. "I emptied the fire extinguisher and pointed it at the base of the fire, but it kept going," he said.

On the second-floor porch, a resident was trapped with his dog.

Sullivan, who loves dogs so much that he tattooed one on his left ankle, ran back into his house again and grabbed a comforter. He and another neighbor stretched it out "just like you see the firefighters do," and the resident dropped the dog, which landed safely in the blanket. The resident then shimmied down a column to safety.

"All this happened in about three minutes," Sullivan said later in the morning, his hands still shaking from adrenaline. Charleston firefighters, who are stationed a few blocks away, came seconds later. "They did a good job putting it out," he said.

The fire spread up the porch and onto the second floor, blackening its upper half. Firefighters put it out in about 10 minutes, Charleston Fire Department spokesman Mark Ruppel said.

The house had just been remodeled following a Nov. 15, 2010, fire that started about the same time of day. The cause of that fire has not been determined, Ruppel said.

This morning's drama fueled increasing frustration about the series of arsons.

The 57 fires set since 2003 is the worst spate of arsons since the 1970s when a serial arsonist torched structures across the metropolitan area, said Frank Finley, deputy chief of administration at the department.

The fire Thursday morning on Cannon Street was the fifth in the past month, said Michael Julazadeh, chief fire marshal.

The fire also was eerily similar to a separate one June 30 at 563 Rutledge Ave., on the other side of the Crosstown. That one began when someone set a blue-and-white blanket on fire on a porch.

"The blanket was laid out at the bottom of the staircase and you could tell they used some kind of accelerant on it because of the way it melted," said James Burkette, a resident who lived on the second floor and put out the fire himself.

Sullivan, the quick-thinking neighbor on Cannon Street, said he was furious that someone seemed to be targeting structures in a way that would make it difficult for people on the second floor to escape. "He's targeting people," Sullivan said of the arsonist.

Authorities were mum on whether the arsonist is using a specific type of material to get the fires going and whether they have any suspects. Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen said police stationed cameras in the area after a spate of fires two years ago, but then the arsons seemed to stop until recently.

Residents in the area said they might have seen a black car in the area before the fire. Julazadeh said witnesses of other fires also have mentioned vehicles leaving the area. But investigators declined to discuss leads they're working on.

What authorities do know is that it's often difficult to catch serial criminals, and that tips from the public are often their best tools.

Riley said the city was chipping in $20,000 on top of $5,000 offered by the South Carolina Insurance News Service for a reward to encourage tips. Riley encouraged people to call 554-1111, the Arson Hotline at 1-800-92-ARSON (27766), or 911.

The city also has set up a 16-person task force that includes firefighters, police, agents with the state Law Enforcement Division and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Riley said he is confident that someone has information that could help investigators. Asked what he would say to the firebug, Riley answered: "We're not going to rest until we catch you."