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Jamaica Plain salon hit by arson again

Maria's

Blue Socks, who took the above photo, reports that Maria's Hair Fashion, 138 South St. (pre-fire street view), was apparently firebombed around 4 a.m. today. The store was also firebombed in 2006. Unlike in that incident, this time the blaze did not travel all the way down the street, Blue Socks reports, adding:

When will the arson in JP stop?!!

Location

Arson
138 South St.
Jamaica Plain, 02130
United States
42° 18' 19.0656" N, 71° 6' 52.4952" W

After the owner started a

By anon (not verified) | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 9:40am

After the owner started a new salon in hyde park after the 2006 fire, her hyde park location burned.

Hmmmmmm...

By independentminded (not verified) | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 10:22am

The same hair salon hit by two arsons, even when they were in different locations?!?
This whole thing sounds even more suspicious. Somebody somewhere must really have it in for the owner of this particular salon. Two arsons in the course of two years to the same place is unusual, imo.

Thanks Miki!

By eeka | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 10:25am

Have you considered a career as a detective?

http://1smootshort.blogspot.com

:=)

By independentminded (not verified) | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 10:38am

n/m

Well...

By anon (not verified) | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 10:36am

...isn't all that jerry curl juice flammable>

Or maybe the landlord who

By anon (not verified) | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 10:37am

Or maybe the landlord who rented both locations to the salon has an interest in burning his own properties down. This is the talk of JP--but I can't tell if it is being investigated or not. I don't really think the salon or its owner are targets--the properties are the target. But why?

Properties being the target:

By independentminded (not verified) | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 11:14am

So the owner(s) can collect insurance, maybe.

Yep, the landlord has had mulitple properties burn

By Brett | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 11:44am

...then again, there aren't a whole lot of Jamaica Plain commercial real estate landlords, so it's not terribly hard.

I remember reading one of the Jamaica Plain Gazette articles saying to a BFD spokeperson/detective, "so, a lot of properties by the same dude..." and the response being (paraphrasing) "yeah, no shit sherlock, the thought occured to us too."

Unfortunately, they knew those cases were arson, had a vague description of someone leaving the scene...but they never found the arsonist.

It's highly unlikely the

By anon (not verified) | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 11:47am

It's highly unlikely the owner of the building did this. He spent nearly two year rebuilding the property with his own labor. It's outrageous that police have made no progress tracking down this arsonist.

OK--so maybe someone has a

By anon (not verified) | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 12:03pm

OK--so maybe someone has a beef with the landlord for whatever reason. I just don't think it is the salon that is the target--but rather the landlord for some shady reason. I would get a new landlord if I were the owner of this salon.

All the more reason, actually

By Kaz | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 12:11pm

If he did it with his own labor, then his costs were kept down. The insurance is for the finished property which gives essentially the same valuation whether you do the work or a contractor does.

Everything else being equal, if I hire someone to build a million-dollar building costing me $900,000 in the process and then it burns down, I only stand to gain about $100,000. If I build it myself for only the cost of the materials at $300,000 and it burns down, then I just made quite a bit more.

It's been decades since it

By NotWhitey | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 12:23pm

It's been decades since it made sense to burn properties in Jamaica Plain. Unless the owner is secretly psychotic, there is no reason to believe he is burning his own properties. Insurance companies do not just give away money - they fight tooth and nail to withhold payment if there is any question.

'Arson in Jamaica Plain out of control'

By adamg | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 12:51pm

Will Brokhof, a local real-estate broker, writes:

Back in 2006 there was a rash of arson on Centre Street including the Oriental De Cuba restaurant, Century 21, and then the string of retail spaces on South Street. Now the perps are seemingly coming back for seconds. As a Realtor in Jamaica Plain trying to make a living, it would help if people would stop burning things. Jamaica Plain is an awesome place to live, and these obvious feuds really need to be addressed. ...

Dudes, the salon owner is

By anon (not verified) | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 1:32pm

Dudes, the salon owner is the key, not the real estate owner. Again: 2006- Maria's South St JP location firebombed. 2007- Maria moves to location in Hyde Park, which is is closed after a fire guts it. 2009- Maria's reopens in old space and is firebombed again. There is a reason that police won't look too closely at the salon owner.

Hate crime?

By adamg | Wed, 01/07/2009 - 12:12am

The Herald talks to the salon owner's husband, a Boston Police sergeant.

I wonder if he meant a hate

By anon (not verified) | Wed, 01/07/2009 - 10:49am

I wonder if he meant a hate crime in that someone "hates" him. It would not surprise me if some thug he helped put away has it in for him and is doing this as retaliation.

Or maybe they're not being

By cscott | Wed, 01/07/2009 - 12:39pm

Or maybe they're not being honest, yeah somebody burns your business down three times but you have no idea who or why...Sure. It couldnt be that there is an active Dominican crime syndicate in the area that often uses hair salons and bodegas to launder money.

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