State police asking public’s help in arsons in Indiana and Westmoreland counties
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The state police fire marshal is asking the public’s help on three intentionally set fires last weekend, including one that gutted a vacant bar-restaurant in Indiana County and two fires that destroyed a home in Bolivar early Sunday.
Trooper Keith Sobecki of the Greensburg barracks said the Clarksburg Valley Inn along Route 286 in Young Township was destroyed by a fire at about 11 p.m. Saturday. Firefighters from three counties were called to battle the blaze, authorities said.
Sobecki said the former bar-restaurant, which has been closed for years, was “a total loss.”
No injuries were reported.
Two fires occurred at a house at 530 Market St. in Bolivar that also were intentionally set, Sobecki said.
He was called to investigate a porch fire at the house at 1 a.m. Sunday. He said the house sustained “minimal damage” in the initial fire.
However, after the first blaze was extinguished, firefighters were called back at 5:30 a.m. and the home was destroyed by the second fire, Sobecki said.
“Fortunately, no one was home when it occurred,” said fire Chief John Speidel.
No injuries were reported in that fire either, Speidel said.
Sobecki did not release details on how each fire was set, only reporting they were “incendiary in nature.”
Speidel said the American Red Cross was helping the family in Bolivar displaced by the fire.
The fires were 2o miles apart and are not believed to be connected.
Anyone with information on either fire is asked to call Sobecki at 724-832-3256.
According to the latest arson statistics available from the FBI, in 2018:
- Law enforcement agencies reported 36,127 arsons.
- More than 43 percent of all arson offenses involved structures. Mobile property was involved in about 24 percent of arsons, and other types of property (crops, timber, fences, etc.) accounted for about 33 percent of reported arsons.
- The average dollar loss per arson was $17,406.
- Arson offenses decreased 9.8 percent in 2018 when compared with arson data reported in 2017.