Volunteers, rain help snuff ‘Devil’s Night’ arsons

November 2, 2009 —

On Halloween weekend, Saginaw put the Ghostbusters on hold and instead called upon its Arson Watch volunteers.

Three years after 42 house fires characterized Devil’s Night in Saginaw, the city was dark Oct. 30 with the exception of a single blaze at 139 S. 14th.

Kevin Kattoula can attest to this.

The criminal justice sophomore joined other members of SVSU’s Criminal Justice Society who aided in patrolling the streets throughout the night on the lookout for trouble.

Karroula found that wind and rain might have been a determining factor for those who may have considered playing with matches.

“You’re not going to have a lot of people walking around outside trying to start a fire with weather like that,” he said.

Burk Foster, the university’s ombudsman and adviser to the Criminal Justice Society, patrolled with a city detective Friday night.

The lone fire, he said, was a result of arsonists entering the house and setting the floor ablaze until flames reached the ceiling. He believed fire officials were able to put out the blaze with an extinguisher.

Only a couple more fires were called in Saturday night, Foster said, as improved weather conditions had more people venturing outdoors.

Volunteers began their Devil’s Night shifts around 9 p.m. after the Saginaw Fire Department fed and debriefed the crew.

Five groups of Criminal Justice students set out to patrol the East side of Saginaw with yellow beacon lights atop their vehicles into the early morning hours.

Kattoula encountered a stormrelated blackout and plenty of deserted streets, but no fires.

Reporting curfew-breakers was an easy task, because there weren’t any to be spotted in Kattoula’s zone.

Criminal Justice senior Shandria Davis’ zone was a slightly different story. She and two other volunteers reported a group of adolescents who were braving the elements and roaming the East side after 1 a.m.

The students spotted more night walkers throughout their shift.

“We were wondering why they’d be out that late,” Davis said.

The number of abandoned, boarded-up homes along the route was greater than Davis had expected.

“I would say, in our patrol zone, at least ten houses had big holes in them from fire damage,” she said.

Equipped with flashlights, Davis and the others investigated a few of the abandoned sites.

The students had spent Wednesday morning volunteering to help board up abandoned homes. The goal was to make it difficult for arsonists to enter houses and set fire to them.

Saginaw’s chief inspector, John C. Stemple, told the Saginaw News that it took 600 sheets of wood to board 102 vacant houses out of 800 in the city.

Foster investigated a few homes Friday night where boards had already been torn down but did not find anyone inside.

Pre-patrolling volunteer efforts also came at a Halloween party for the community at the Dow Event Center. Thousands turned out for the Saginaw Police and Saginaw Fire Department-sponsored event despite the weather.

Kattoula manned security posts while Davis operated a money machine for a never-ending line of visitors who tested their skills at grabbing a few floating dollars.

Kattoula said he was happy to put in volunteer time for his community.

“Plus, just looking at the little kids’ faces when they’re having fun is priceless.”