Nobody Willing to Talk About The Fires in City
Greenwood, Ms (United States):
Three women sitting outside their homes at Snowden Jones Apartments didn't want to speak up Thursday when asked about the nine vehicle and apartment fires at the 105-unit complex in the past month.They didn't want to draw attention to themselves.
There might be reprisals, they said. "Everybody's afraid. I've heard that many are thinking of leaving. They are concerned, and rightfully so," said Fire Chief Larry Griggs.And the complex's manager, Claudette Clay, said, half-jokingly, "What's going on? Would somebody please tell me?"That is exactly what the Greenwood Police Department is trying to find out.
"What we're doing right now is we're pulling all the fire reports to see when they happened and to hopefully establish a pattern - to see how connected they are," Deputy Chief Henry Purnell.Thursday around 4 a.m., a 1993 Plymouth Voyager van, owned by Candra Magee, a resident of the complex, was destroyed in a fire. A second vehicle, a Lincoln Town Car, owned by Jerome Harris, parked next to Magee's, also sustained some fire damage, said Griggs said.
Two previous vehicle fires - the latest on Friday - were determined to have been deliberately set. In addition, three fires at Apartment 9H and one at Apartment 10G and one involving a trash box at the complex remain under investigation, Purnell said.Most of the fires have occurred between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m.At Snowden Jones Thursday afternoon, one woman resident, who asked not to be identified, said she just hopes the person or persons responsible will be caught before her car is destroyed by fire.
Oct 08, 2005
Bob Darden, Greenwood Commonwealth, MS
Greenwood, Ms (United States):
Three women sitting outside their homes at Snowden Jones Apartments didn't want to speak up Thursday when asked about the nine vehicle and apartment fires at the 105-unit complex in the past month.They didn't want to draw attention to themselves.
There might be reprisals, they said. "Everybody's afraid. I've heard that many are thinking of leaving. They are concerned, and rightfully so," said Fire Chief Larry Griggs.And the complex's manager, Claudette Clay, said, half-jokingly, "What's going on? Would somebody please tell me?"That is exactly what the Greenwood Police Department is trying to find out.
"What we're doing right now is we're pulling all the fire reports to see when they happened and to hopefully establish a pattern - to see how connected they are," Deputy Chief Henry Purnell.Thursday around 4 a.m., a 1993 Plymouth Voyager van, owned by Candra Magee, a resident of the complex, was destroyed in a fire. A second vehicle, a Lincoln Town Car, owned by Jerome Harris, parked next to Magee's, also sustained some fire damage, said Griggs said.
Two previous vehicle fires - the latest on Friday - were determined to have been deliberately set. In addition, three fires at Apartment 9H and one at Apartment 10G and one involving a trash box at the complex remain under investigation, Purnell said.Most of the fires have occurred between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m.At Snowden Jones Thursday afternoon, one woman resident, who asked not to be identified, said she just hopes the person or persons responsible will be caught before her car is destroyed by fire.
Oct 08, 2005
Bob Darden, Greenwood Commonwealth, MS
