Investigation into a house fire on Barrows Street has led to the arrest of a man who lives nearby.
Joshua D. Whalen, 20, of 245 Barrows St. was charged with third-degree arson Tuesday in connection with a blaze that took place at 225 Barrows St. late Monday night. Rex Rater, Jamestown police chief, said that preliminary investigation within the neighborhood while the fire was still burning drummed up information that helped with the case.
''We discovered this young man through the response with the fire department that night,'' Rater said. ''The officers did a neighborhood canvass, and in the process of interviewing people they came upon some information that led them to Joshua D. Whalen.''
Investigation into the Monday blaze is continuing, as is investigation into two other recent fires on nearby Allen Street, Lance Hedlund, city deputy fire chief, said.
Whether the fires are linked remains to be determined, he said, but Whalen is a suspect.
''With the fact that we have had several set fires up in that area, immediately the individual involved here becomes a suspect,'' Hedlund said. ''We have to correlate whether or not he was involved with one or any of those. Obviously, this adds more information to be compared with those other fires to see if there is a connection.''
Whalen is currently on probation, Rater said. Police are working to get a search warrant for Whalen's residence, he added, and there is ''strong reason to believe'' that he may be linked the other recent fires in the same area.
''We still have quite a bit of information to gather ... but I think we are probably going to have at least one other charge of arson forthcoming against him within the next week or so,'' Rater said.
The house at 225 Barrows St. was unoccupied but was in the process of being remodeled, Rater said. A new steel roof had recently been put on the building, and the contractor who was working inside had been there within two hours of the blaze being set.
''It wasn't just an abandoned property,'' Rater said. ''Somebody was actually putting quite a bit of time and money into it to rehab it. It's a sad state of affairs for the owner.''
An accelerant was used when the fire was set, helping to explain the rapid involvement of the fire, Rater said.
Whalen is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in City Court at 9:15 a.m. today.
Arson continues to be a problem in the city, Hedlund said. A large number of fires are intentionally set each year, he said. Hedlund urges residents who have any information about any city fire to call the Arson Tip Line at 483-7509. All callers can remain anonymous or may request a follow-up call from investigators.
''(Arson) is a community issue, even for people on the other side of town,'' Hedlund said. ''Resources are diverted to these fires, and heaven forbid if one of their houses catches of fire while we're out at one of these fires. ... If you see something or hear something anywhere, please funnel that information to us so we can keep the community safe.''
