Word: arsons
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...ghetto areas like the South Bronx and Humboldt Park, landlords often see arson as a way of profitably liquidating otherwise unprofitable assets. The usual strategy: drive out tenants by cutting off the heat or water; make sure the fire insurance is paid up; call in a torch. In effect, says Barracato, the landlord or businessman "literally sells his building back to the insurance company because there is nobody else who will buy it." Barracato's office is currently investigating a case in which a Brooklyn building insured for $200,000 went up in flames six minutes before its insurance...
...girl friend had attended the party against his wishes. Says Donald Mershon, manager of the Metropolitan Chicago Loss Bureau, which handles property insurance claims for more than 100 firms: "Kids used to throw rocks or settle an argument with their fists. Now they simply burn a house down. Arson is being used as a weapon...
...ghetto areas around the country, arson is often a means of feeding drug habits. Unable to afford the tools to remove valuable brass plumbing, sinks, bathtubs and refrigerators in abandoned buildings, junkies pour inflammable liquid around the rooms, set a blaze and wait for firemen to chop up the floors, exposing the loot. Then the "mango hunters," as New York cops call them for their practice of reaping a harvest of stolen goods, move in, drag ou the fire-resistant fixtures and sell them -a bathtub is worth $25 on the open market, a wash basin $15. Some areas...
Whatever the motive for arson, the result is fright and despair among inner-city residents. Says Dorothy Maeda, chairman of Humboldt Park's arson committee: "It's a terrifying feeling never knowing when you go to sleep at night whether a fire bomb will come through the window." Along Boston's once elegant Symphony Road, where fire has gutted 29 of the 74 apartment buildings in the past four years, tenants live in constant fear of flames. "Everybody around here is jumpy," says local resident Sadie Ellis. "Whenever I hear sirens I turn the radio down...
...Arson is one of the easiest crimes to commit and the hardest to prevent-and prosecute. District Attorneys must prove the fire was set intentionally...