Updated: Weirdness at Possible Arson in Rogers Park 60626

Jan. 19, 2013 - Chicago News Bench has learned of two weird wrinkles in an otherwise ordinary fire story. A small fire broke out at approximately 10:15 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 18 in the 7th-floor hallway of 1246 W. Pratt Boulevard (map). There were no known injuries and the flames were quickly extinguished with  only minor damage. Fire crews were gone by 11:15 p.m. However, here is where the real story begins: The bald guy and the mysterious lawn smoke detector.

Chicago police in the neighborhood of Rogers Park quickly began searching for a person of interest, who they think might have been involved with the fire in some way. Reports on the police scanner last night said that police were told by "a neighbor" that a man was seen "standing across the street" the previous night (on Thursday) "staring at the building" for a long time. The man was described as African-American, bald, 46 years old, possibly 5' 9" tall and wearing "a long trench coat." Did that man have anything to do with a possible arson?

More Weirdness: At 11:30 last night, I walked past the fire scene. There was a Chicago police SUV parked in front, with two uniformed officers doing paperwork. As I approached, I saw a smoke detector sitting in the grass in front of the property two doors east of 1246 W. Pratt. I told the police officers about it. "You don't often see a smoke detector sitting on the grass," I told them, "and the coincidence of seeing that right next to a fire scene must be even more rare." The driver smiled and said, "Thanks. I'll check it out."

UPDATE, Jan. 21: As of 10: 30 last night, the smoke detector was still on the grass, untouched, in exactly the same place that I first saw it on Saturday night. Apparently, the cop driving that SUV didn't give a crap about something that might be evidence in a possible arson case. Also apparent is the fact that he lied to me when he said he would "check it out."

Wrapping up: A guy in a long trench coat was seen Thursday night standing across the street "staring at" 1246 W. Pratt. The next night, a fire breaks out. A smoke detector is seen on the grass next door. Are these things connected? Why was the smoke detector where it was? Why did the cops take no interest in possible evidence of a crime?

Related: Possible Arson on Pratt Morse Hellhole

Australian Fires Climate or Arson???

Australia's horrific wildfires have destroyed whole towns and killed, by now, at least 200 people. Eager to blame somebody - or something - for the catastrophe, The Church of Global Warming is trying to convince us that climate change is the cause of the fires. By extension, the same lunatic adherents to the Church of Global Warming would have to say that brush fires in California - or anywhere else - are also caused by climate change. That's lunacy. Here's why. We know that many brush fires are the work of arsonists. Some of those arsonists are "fire bugs" who have a sick fascination with fire. Some arsonists do it for insurance money; some of their fires go out of control and become bigger than they intended. Some arsonists are eco-terrorists bent of exacting revenge on the human race in order to avenge the displacement of gophers and scorpions. Still others, it turns out, may be Islamo-terrorists. Not of those arsonists were driven to their criminal acts by climate change. The lunatic eagerness to blame Global Warming/Climate Change for everything evil reaches a crescendo in article such as the one at RedOrbit.com: The latest series of wildfires to hit Australia appeared to be intensified due to climate change, scientists reported on Monday. Australia is prone to massive wildfires due to its dry climate and naturally combustible vegetation, including oil-rich eucalyptus forests, according to the nation’s Bureau of Meteorology. However, the wildfires that struck Victoria over the weekend were the nation's deadliest on record, and scientists believe climate change is to blame. "Scientists believe climate change is to blame." Meanwhile, experts in arson investigation are certain that human beings set the blazes in Australia. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but the meteorologists are not on the fire scenes poking around for evidence of criminal activity. It's quite a stretch of faith to believe that climate change is to blame for "naturally combustible vegetation, including oil-rich eucalyptus forests." RedOrbit continues: "Climate change, weather and drought are altering the nature, ferocity and duration of bushfires," Gary Morgan, head of the government-backed Bushfire Cooperative Research Center, told the AFP." Really? And how, please, does one actually prove that theory? Oh! It's windy! Must be climate change! It hasn't rained in weeks! Must be climate change! Somebody put a torch to that tree! It's climate change! Again, from RedOrbit: Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said the record heat is yet another sign of global climate change scientists have forecasted. "Eleven of the hottest years in history have been in the last 12, and we also note, particularly in the southern part of Australia, we're seeing less rainfall," said Wong. Well, isn't that fascinating? Imagine, "eleven of the hottest years in history." In history! All 200 years of the history of Australian records of temperatures? Notice that Wong did not say, "The eleven hottest years in history." She said, "Eleven of the hottest years..." That's important, because if there were, say, a dozen even hotter years 150 years ago, her statement is still correct. It's Orwellian to state it the way she did. It is misleading, and she probably knows it. The ravings of The Church of Global Warming see things in the same way that some folks see the image of Christ in a stain on a highway overpass wall. They really, really want it to be there, and their minds - not their eyes - are fooling them into "seeing" it. If you believe deeply enough, you will "see" whatever your faith demands. The Church of Global Warming demands that you see climate change in everything bad. An excellent article at Slate.com today examines how a wildfire is investigated. How do you investigate a wildfire for signs of arson? First, figure out where it got started. The place where firefighters first engaged with the blaze is a good place to begin, as are spots where eyewitnesses say they first saw flames or charred ground. Once they're in the ballpark, a careful study of burn patterns can guide investigators to the fire's point of origin. None of the forensic methods described involve any of the theories of The Church of Global Warming. They focus instead on humans using matches for all the wrong reasons. The Toronto Sun reports today that "Police declared incinerated towns crime scenes Monday, and the prime minister spoke of 'mass murder' after investigators said arsonists may have set some of Australia’s worst wildfires in history." Humans misbehaving, not global warming or climate change, is squarely blamed by forensic experts for the Australian infernos. The Sun article, from AP, further notes that "Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, visibly upset during a television interview, reflected the country’s disgust at the idea that arsonists may have set some of the 400 fires that devastated Victoria state, or helped them jump containment lines." The eagerness to blame disasters on "climate change" or "global warming" is a blind faith delusion. We might as well start blaming higher crime rates on climate change. After all, if last summer hadn't been "one of the hottest on record," perhaps some of those criminals might not have been willing to go outdoors and snatch purses. Then again, if last summer had been "one of the rainiest in history," would The Church of Global Warming hail climate change for reducing the number of stolen purses? Post Script - On 2/9/09, a commenter wrote: Wow, great article! I too am tired of the misleading AGW/CC speak. Billions of dollars are at stake, to say nothing of [the] devastating ripple that is sure to propagate through the third world! All the best, Dave Nevada City, California RELATED: Firebugs may be charged with murder Arsonist fires devastate parched Australia Police closing in on Victoria arsonists Australia's Wildfires: Climate Change or Crime? Why are the fires in Australia so bad? Australian fire zone considered crime scene Michigan State University Eco-Terrorist Sentenced in Arson Case ELF Press Office Condemns FBI Hunt for Environmental Defenders YouTube - Eco-Terrorism Ecoterrorism Suspected in House Fires in Seattle Suburb - New York ... CNB RSS Feed

Mainstream Media Lags on Arson Reporting

Most local mainstream media did not bother to Rogers Park to look at the Morse Theatre fire scene on Sunday. Chicago News Bench was one of the few citizen journalists to visit the fire scene as it was happening, and we posted our photos on the morning of August 10. The only newspaper reporter to be on the scene was Lorraine Swanson of the News-Star (of Lake Effect News since May, 2009). The Chicago Sun-Times has no story about the fire. Arson Possible In Theater Fire NBC5.com (Aug. 11) Arson Possible In Theater Fire - News- msnbc.com (Aug. 8) Amusing, since the fire occurred on August 10) Arson suspected in Rogers Park theater fire (Aug. 10) Chicago Tribune cbs2chicago.com - Fire At Rogers Park Theatre, Arson Suspected (Aug. 11) CBS2's report was especially poor: "Police are investigating a possibly suspicious fire that started at a Rogers Park neighborhood theater under renovation on the North Side Sunday morning." "Possibly suspicious" is redundant. A "suspicious fire," as they should have written, would be one that is possibly arson. "About 4 a.m., the fire started at the Morse Theatre, 1328 W. Morse Ave., Rogers Park District police said." No, the fire started before 3:30 a.m. If the Sun-Times had come to the scene they would know that. "Fire investigators determined the fire 'was started with materials at the back of the theater,' according to district police, who would not say whether arson is suspected." "Would not say whether arson is suspected," says CBS2. Huh? If [24th] District police said the fire "was started with materials," that's a strong statement that it was deliberate, and therefore arson. "A call to the theater was not immediately returned Monday morning." CBS2 waited until Monday morning to call the theatre? It happened at 3:30 a.m. on Sunday.

ARSON AT MORSE THEATRE

CHICAGO - AUG. 10, 2008 (RPB) - Arson nearly destroyed a major theater construction project, just weeks from its hoped-for opening. Gang graffiti on the walls An athletic shoe print on the inside of one of the rear doors. A fire in the middle of what will become the main seating area of the theater. A can of beer. All suspicious items in the midst of what was obviously arson in the greatest project yet to be accomplished on the run down W. Morse Avenue in Rogers Park. As I was getting dressed just after 3:00 a.m., I heard confusion on the police scanner over the address of the fire. I ran over to the Morse Theatre. I could smell smoke as I left home three blocks away, sirens screaming in the background. Arriving on the scene, there were six fire trucks on the street and one in the alley west of the theater. The police made no attempt to secure what was obviously a crime scene, and it was not until 4:30 a.m. that a cop put a thin yellow across the three open rear doors. He left immediately, leaving nobody to stand guard, evidence within easy reach of anybody walking by. I could see gang graffiti scrawled on a rear wall and door, as well as on the rim of the mezzanine. A fire official on the scene later said that the graffiti looked like authentic gang tagging. Police crime scene tape covers the back of the building to preserve the evidence. City of Chicago and State of Illinois Fire Investigators are on scene also. Footprints and gang tags were also left behind. Theater owner-partner Andy McGhee said that the kitchen and restaurant were not entered or damaged directly. However, Mr. McGhee said the heavy smoke from the intense but short lived fire caused "some damage" throughout the theater. The vandals also broke two glass windows on the sound booth on the second level. The Morse Theatre was hoping to open in mid-September. Mr. McGhee said that this will "put us back a month or two, but we'll continue on. This won't stop us." At 6:30 a.m., Mr. McGhee was still speaking with the arson investigation team on the scene. Hookers walked by with their johns. A crack whore sat motionless on a front stoop half a block away. 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore did not bother to show up. Neither did 49th Ward Democrat Committeeman David Fagus.

ARSON ON ARGYLE? With Photos...

CHICAGO - EXCLUSIVE - THE BENCH learned at 2:30 a.m. that arson is suspected in a suspicious fire ravaged four businesses early this morning in Chicago's "Little Chinatown" in the northern Uptown neighborhood. The blaze started around 1:00 a.m. in the 1100 block of W. Argyle Street, adjacent to the Argyle CTA Red Line Station. The fire was under control by 2:00 a.m. The station was not damaged. No injuries were reported. At 1:15 this afternoon, several fire trucks came to the already busy scene because some of the rubble was still hot. A pump unit sprayed water into the gaping hole of what had been the roof of the Mien Hoa grocery store. ARSON? At approximately 2:30 a.m., the 20th District police dispatcher told units that a 911 call said somebody was seen running away from the scene with a gasoline can. (Studies have shown that very few people run away from blazing restaurants at 2:00 in the morning while holding a gasoline can, even in Uptown.) The destroyed businesses are: - Pride Home Realty and Globeserve Financial Services, Inc. (formerly CFIC Home Mortgage) - Vinh Tho Grocery Store - Mien Hoa Inc., grocery - Tien Giang Restaurant, Vietnamese & Chinese Lucky Enterprises and Kim Tam, immediately east of the fire, jeweler, appeared to be undamaged. EVACUATE? At approximately 1:45 a.m., police and fire officials debated whether or not to evacuate the large apartment building behind the four burning, single-story businesses. They decided not to evacuate, judging the fire under control (see more on this below). EXTREMELY INTENSE - The fire was, from observation, extremely intense. The Bench walked around the block and found chunks of burned wood, some over 1.5 inches square, on the sidewalk and in the street one block away from the actual fire, indicating a high thermal updraft that carried debris upwards to drift away. RELATED: Fire Guts Restaurant, Stores In Little Vietnam - CBS2 Chicago Fire controlled in Uptown building - Chicago Sun-Times Extra-alarm blaze in Uptown - Chicago Tribune Uptown Blaze Destroys Building - NBC5 Chicago 48th Ward Alderman Mary Ann Smith

EXCLUSIVE: MEDIA MISSES ARSON STORY LAST NIGHT

Exclusive from The Bench:
We found a pattern that ABC7 and the rest of them MISSED...

ALSO READ THIS RELATED STORY: Ripping a New One In Three Parts

They got it half right... a suspected arson fire involving at least four garages over the weekend. ABC7 Chicago posted that story on Sunday, April 27 at 5:57 p.m. "Chicago fire officials and the police bomb and arson squad are looking into whether multiple overnight fires in an alley on the Northwest Side were set deliberately."

But they missed a bigger story last night: AT LEAST SIX GARAGES WERE BURNED EARLY THIS MONDAY MORNING, AND IT LOOKS LIKE A PATTERN. The Bench heard the calls on the scanner and monitored them. At 1:32 a.m., dispatch called out a garage fire in an alley that runs between the 3800 blocks of N. Tripp and N. Keeler. Within minutes, units at the scene called in that there were "six garages" burning. One officer called in that it was arson. He said it in an unambiguous way, as though there was no doubt in his mind that the fire was deliberately set.

So - the Big Boys missed this huge story. Even bigger - the odd coincidence of two events of multiple garages being torched. The map shown here is a combination of the fire reported by ABC7 on Karlov, and the fire being reported by The Bench on Tripp. You can see that they are very close together. Multiple-garage fires are unusual enough, even more unusual when arson is suspected, and very, very unusual when they occur in such a tight pattern.

Perhaps Mayor Daley can hold an Emergency Arson Meeting to stop the madness.

ALSO READ THIS RELATED STORY: Ripping a New One In Three Parts