Halloween decorations torched in Piedmont, police searching for arsonist

PIEDMONT, Calif. - Piedmont police are searching for a suspected arsonist after three fires broke out early Thursday morning.

The first was at an Ace Hardware store on Grand Avenue around 4:30 a.m.

An officer on patrol noticed smoke coming from the parking lot and found a pile of wood pallets on fire.

"He immediately called for help, grabbed his fire extinguisher from his car and began to extinguish the fire with his fire extinguisher," said Captain Chris Monahan with the Piedmont Police Department. He said

The fire was knocked down using fire extinguishers and the store was not damaged.

Only a couple of hours later, police and firefighters were called to another incident at a home on the corner of Sierra Avenue and Highland Avenue. Someone rolling out their garbage cans noticed smoke and found homemade Halloween decorations on fire on the lawn.

Then around 7:00 a.m. – police were notified about a third fire. They say a resident on Wildwood Avenue found their decorative scarecrows had been torched. Cpt. Monahan said that person put out the flames with a garden hose.

Larry Singer lives across the street. He said a possible arsonist in town is a scary thought - especially with constant fire danger in the area.

"We have some decorations in our yard. We put stuff out at Christmas time on the front slope here, so I’m a little afraid of what they might do," said Singer.

Each of these fires was set about a mile apart, but police were able to link them together.

"Based on collection of video from the hardware store and some other residential video we’ve collected we’ve identified a suspect who was at all three locations," said Cpt. Monahan.

Police are asking residents to stay vigilant. Leave porch lights on, listen for any unusual sounds, and call them if you recognize the person in the picture.

"We’ll keep an eye out," said Singer. "My wife is pretty good about that. She watches everything that goes on tin the neighborhood."