Arson

A Mattapan 14-year-old was arraigned yesterday on an arson charge in Dorchester District Court for allegedly setting the front door of the Chez Vouz roller rink on Rhodes Street on fire Saturday night, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

The teen, not named because of her age, allegedly shoved burning papers into the front door, after she was turned away around 10 p.m. the DA's office says, adding she had been earlier barred by the rink for 30 days for "fighting and making threats to other patrons."

Boston Police report charging teens from West Roxbury and Roslindale with burning down the long vacant McDonald's on the southbound VFW Parkway last night.

Police say they followed footprints in the snow from the flaming old hamburger stand to the nearby Charles River - from where they could observe fresh footprints on the Dedham side of the river (the same investigative technique they used to catch a robber at the open McDonald's two years ago):

Destroyed cars. Photo by BFD.

The Boston Fire Department says an Acura and a Civic were destroyed by fire this morning in a garage at 15 Long Ave. in Allston.

The fire, reported at 7:49 a.m., was deliberately set, the department says.

The location is at the other end of Allston from the still unsolved Allston Flamer fires.

The Boston Fire Department reports firefighters made short work of a fire at 193 Norfolk St.: It was reported at 12:50 p.m. and declared out a half hour later.

However, arson investigators were summoned to the scene after police reported a witness spotted somebody apparently throwing something into the two-family home just before the fire broke out.

Updated 9:45 p.m.

A Brockton man is charged with setting a one-alarm fire that did an estimated $100,000 damage to a house at 7 St. James St. last night, Boston Police report.

James Stewart, 27, is considered dangerous, and may be on the way to Vero Beach, FL in a black 1992 Lexus LS400 with Florida plates: 9112GE. He may also be with his two-year-old daughter, Harmony.

Firefighters responded shortly before 11 p.m. to find a fire blazing on the first floor. The fire was knocked down about 20 minutes later. No residents were injured, but one firefighter was treated at Mass. Eye and Ear for an ear injury, the department says.

Police say witnesses saw Stewart walking away from the fire.

Know where he is? Contact B-2 detectives at 617-343-4275 or the anonymous tip line by calling 800-494-TIPS or texting TIP to CRIME (27463).

Innocent, etc.

The Boston Fire Department reports arson investigators arrested a 16-year-old male student at the exam school around 5 p.m. in connection with three fires over the past three days.

The student, not immediately identified, will be arraigned tomorrow, the day after a third fire sent students and staff into the street again and fire inspectors and police swarmed the school, looking for evidence and witnesses and handing anonymous-tip-line pamphlets to arriving students. The Fire Department said the investigation is continuing.

"We look forward to an uninterrupted day of learning," school Headmaster Lynne Mooney Teta told parents in a robocall tonight. She said that police will maintain a heightened presence at the school tomorrow.

For the third day in a row, somebody set a trash barrel on fire at Boston Latin School, this time around 1:30 p.m. in a third-floor restroom. Teachers used an extinguisher to put out the fire, the Boston Fire Department reports. The school was evacuated for about 20 minutes.

Fire and police arson investigators got to the fire scene quickly - they were already on another floor investigating the previous two days' fires. There were no injuries, BFD says.

UPDATE: Arrest made.

For the second day in a row, Boston firefighters had to respond to the exam school on Avenue Louis Pasteur for what school officials are telling parents was a deliberately set fire.

Syretta Copeland, 31, was arraigned on charges of attempted murder, arson and causing injury to a firefighter for a Sept. 10 fire at 130 Devon St. that sent one resident and a firefighter to the hospital, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Roxbury District Court Judge Ernest Sarason set bail at $7,000; prosecutors had asked for $20,000 bail.

Shortly before 5 a.m. on Sept. 10, Copeland poured gasoline on the back porch, lit that, then went around to the front porch and did the same thing, prosecutors charge:

Remains of the truck. Photo by BFD.

The Boston Fire Department reports a Ford Ranger pickup oarked in a driveway burst into flames shortly before 7 a.m. on Highgate Street, not far from where a series of cars were torched in August and September.

Fire investigators ruled the fire arson. Boston Police report the suspect is white, in his 20s, with brown hair. He was wearing a blue/gray ski cap and a gray pea coat.

Anyone with info can contact arson investigators at 617-343-3324.

Fire stilll burning at 5 a.m. Photo by BFD.

UPDATE: Police have charged a Medford man with arson and attempted murder for what they say was a botched suicide attempt.

A gas explosion that blew out the wall of an apartment started a massive fire that raced through a series of connected Roxbury apartment buildings around 12:45 a.m., leaving residents in one building trapped by flames on the third floor - from which they tossed a young boy to firefighters below. The rest were led to safety via an extended ladder from a firetruck.

A man was arrested at Boston Medical Center and charged with setting the fire, which spread across seven buildings on Wardman Street, Waldman Road and Westminster Avenue, the Boston Fire Department reports:

An East Boston woman living with her ex-boyfriend was arraigned yesterday on charges she set his Coleridge Street apartment on fire, causing $300,000 in damage, displacing three people and sending four firefighters to the hospital.

Arson investigators are looking into a suspicious car fire shortly after 1 a.m. today on Glenley Terrace.

Ward Hegedus, who took this post-fire photo of her car, reports both BFD and BPD responded quickly.

BFD spokesman Steve MacDonald says "no determination has been made as to cause," it is still under investigation.

The Pratt/Ashford area of Allston has been plagued by car fires over the past month.

Firefighters, police respond to car fire on Pratt Street in Allston this morning. Photo by Christine Varriale.

Allstonian reports three cars were set on fire this morning off Pratt Street - and then another one went up in flames across the street after firefighters put out those fires.

Christine Varriale reports:

Fire damage on Devon St. Photo by BFD.

The Boston Fire Department reports nine people were displaced by what it says was an arson fire that broke out shortly before 5 a.m. at 130 Devon St..

One firefighter suffered a back injury while battling the one-alarm fire, the department reports, adding heavy fire was shooting from rear porches when firefighters arrived. A neighbor suffered a cut foot from broken glass.

The department estimated damage at $200,000.

Don Lubin reports three cars were set on fire over the weekend on Wadsworth, Pratt and Ashford streets.

UPDATE: Teen arrested, charged with murder.

The Boston Fire Department reports a basement fire at 877 Saratoga St. claimed a life around 8 a.m. and sent a firefighter to the hospital with a back injury.

Boston fire inspectors and police homicide detectives are now on the scene of the fire, a two-story home.

Boston's last fatal fire was also in East Boston, on May 29, 2010, when two people died in a fire started by an extension cord shorting out.

Boston Police charge three men poured a flammable liquid under the door of an apartment on Medford Street early this morning, then lit it, starting a two-alarm fire:

Boston fire crews tonight responded to 49 Maxwell St. for a fire, less than 24 hours after they put out another fire at the same address.

Fire investigators ruled yesterday's fire suspicious and were summoned to the address again tonight.

Boston_Fireman reports last night's fire was reported around 9:30 p.m. A Dorchester firefighter blogs it started in a third-floor bedroom being used for storage. According to Local 718, tonight's fire started in a third-floor closet around 6:30 p.m.

The Dorchester firefighter adds that when firefighters arrived last night:

Surprisingly not all the occupants decided to leave the fire floor including children.

Residents of quiet Highland Avenue on Fort Hill got a rude awakening around 5 this morning when two cars erupted into flames, bringing firefighters, police and arson investigators. Residents say investigators quickly determined somebody had poured something on the two cars, then set them on fire. BostonPOPS took the photo.

A Dorchester man already under suspicion for a string of fires since 2008 was arrested on charges he set a Roslindale house on fire early this morning, federal and city officials say.

Jose Baez, 38, was arrested after authorities tracked a GPS unit they'd secretly put on his car to the area of 11 Firth Rd., where an early morning fire did roughly $100,000 in damage and sent one resident to the hospital:

At 3:21 a.m. this morning, the GPS notified law enforcement that Baez's vehicle had left his residence and was stationary on Bexley Road in Roslindale for approximately 15 minutes and then moved to 140 Columbia Road where it remained parked. Bexley Road runs parallel with Firth Road and is a short distance away. According to the complaint, officers approached Baez who exited the vehicle and officers immediately noticed a strong odor consistent with that of gasoline, and Baez was subsequently arrested.

Baez faces up to 40 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted.

Innocent, etc.

The Boston Fire Department says a fire that broke out shortly before noon at 6 Westville Terrace was deliberately set and that one man is under arrest.

Some 12 people are now homeless, the department says, adding the fire, set on the second floor, did about $75,000 in damage. No one was injured.

District C-6 reports two cars were damaged when one erupted in flames at 8 Covington St. around 3:20 a.m. Around 4:50 a.m. another car burst into flames three blocks away at 95 G St.

Can a pair of hard-boiled - and fictional - private eyes crack the case of JP's serial arsonist? That's the premise behind Part-Time Private Eyes, also known as "the noir adventures of Franklin and Turner, two former English Majors who teamed up to pool their knowledge of TV crime dramas to solve Boston's toughest cases."

... He was hitting places regular for a few months and then stopped, but there was one exception: January 28, Maria's Salon. If you took that one out, it would almost seem like clockwork, hitting towards the beginning of the month in December (the 11th), January (the 6th) and February (the 7th). Which means maybe something got him a little jingle-brained on before the 28th.

He'd have to be on the swift to rush a plan together, and maybe that means he'd have to swing by the corner of Washington and Rockvale, which looks like his personal shopping mall from where I'm sitting. If I've got the right slant on this: Between the 7th and the 28th, he must have heard something about Maria's that set him off, and must have started planning then--The one-a-month thing seemed to be working out for him otherwise. ...

Tire arsonist?: Police say he's getting ready to start a tire fire.

Boston Police have released a series of photos of a man they say may be responsible for using tires to set several Jamaica Plain homes and a business on fire in recent months - and that there is now a $5,000 reward for information leading to his capture.

Police say the photos were taken around 4:40 a.m. on Feb. 7 at 22 Sigourney St., shortly before flames erupted.

The man is also suspected for setting Maria's Hair Salon and Spa on fire around 4 a.m. on Jan. 6 and then setting 111 School St. on fire early on the morning of Jan. 28.

Information can be called into the city Arson Hotline at 617-343-3324. Anonymous tips to 1-800-494-TIPS or via texting 'TIP' to CRIME (27463).