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City no stranger to fires, police continue to investigate recent blazes
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Saturday, July 14, 2007 12:38 AM EDT
Crews from the Owosso Fire Department battle a fire on Exchange Street in the spring of 1965. A storage building owned by Montgomery Ward caught fire and was eventually destroyed, and surrounding businesses were damaged. All of the buildings in the left side of the photo were eventually demolished, and a parking lot now occupies the site. The Owosso Armory can be seen at top right.
Over the years, fires have methodically chipped away at Owosso, leaving parking lots and empty fields where vibrant and busy buildings once stood.
A few of those buildings were rebuilt, a testament to the city's determination to move forward.
But many of the spaces left empty by fire remain vacant, offering a constant reminder of the infernos of the past.
Area residents don't have to dig too deep in their memories to recall the latest round of devastating downtown fires - in the past three years alone, a treasured downtown bowling alley and a historic theater were destroyed, a massive factory burned to the ground, a liquor store was destroyed and a man was found dead after fire ripped through a set of apartments.
These recent blazes have residents talking, wondering and, in some cases, worrying. Arson is highly suspected or hasn't been ruled out as a cause in three of the last five major Owosso fires - the vacant Vaungarde factory in April 2005, the Lebowsky Center in February and a set of Washington Street apartments earlier in the month.
Electrical problems were blamed for a fire that destroyed the Capitol Bowl in January 2006. Investigators believe a fire that burned The Liquor Store in Westown in December 2004 was probably an accident.
Despite the relatively high level of suspicion surrounding many recent fires, Police aren't worried about a serial arsonist.
“We looked at them to see if there's a connection, but there doesn't appear to be,” said Owosso Deputy Police Chief Mike Rau, who's been on the job since 2004. “They don't start at the same time of day, they're not all in the same section of town, they're not the same types of fires - some buildings are occupied, some are not.”
Because of the lack of similarities, police don't think the fires were set by the same people.
“We don't think there's one person or even a group of people going around starting these fires,” Rau said.
Investigation continues into the Washington Street apartment and Lebowsky fires. Investigators are still questioning people in both incidents, Rau said.
Officials believed they were closing in on someone responsible for the Lebowsky fire, Rau said, but the lead wasn't solid.
“We had some information that was promising, but when we double-checked it, it didn't pan out,” he said. “We get some goofy stories.”
Investigators determined the Washington Street apartment fire - which killed Owosso resident Greg Shire, 22, injured four others and badly damaged surrounding businesses - began in the building's stairwell. Rau said it now appears there was nothing in the stairwell that could have caught fire, so the fire was certainly started by a person.
“Somebody had to bring something in there to burn,” he said.
Officials hope continued questioning of people in the building at the time will reveal who started the fire, and why.
In the meantime, officials aren't eager to see the recent trend of fires continue, regardless of how they start.
“Certainly people should be fire smart - there's a lot of documentation about how to keep your buildings or your homes from accidental fires,” Rau said. “(And) if you smell some smoke, and you think there's even a slight possibility of fire, call right away - some of these fires got a little bit of a head start before the fire department got there.
“Just be vigilant, and don't be afraid to call.”