The people of Coatesville, PA are sleeping with one eye open, fearing that at any minute their house could be set on fire. At least one arsonist is on the loose, and it’s most likely one of the town’s own.

There have been 30 arsons in this small city since the beginning of last year. 15 were set in just the past month alone.  At first, the fires started small, mostly in trash cans.  Then sheds started burning.  Then abandoned houses. Now homes filled with sleeping people are going up in flames in the middle of the night. This past weekend a string of 15 row homes was destroyed, leaving dozens of people homeless.

The town is on edge.

People are filled with fear, anxiety and suspicion.  With no known suspects and no recent arrests, everyone is a suspect.  Townspeople are offering to do their own patrols. But because Pennsylvania is a “right-to-carry” state, Coatesville’s Chief of Police doesn’t want any bloody accidents.  He is urging people not to take matters into their own hands.

The most recent fire happened at 6:30 yesterday evening. Photographer Rob Ginnane and I were driving around town taking pictures of people removing flammable furniture from their porches when a firetruck zoomed past us, sirens blaring.

We followed it to Coates Street where we found a young man standing in front of his house. He was clutching a fire extinguisher to his chest, a look of fear in his eyes.  Minutes after coming home last night he heard a blast in his back yard and found his trash can on fire. “I had just seen a show on tv about escaping fires and all I remembered is they said to stay real calm,” he told me.

He put out the fire himself and called 9-1-1.

Everywhere you go people are talking about the fires. Rumors are spreading almost as fast as the flames, and you can almost smell the smoke coming out of the fuming people writing into the editorial page of the local papers. People want the firestarter(s) caught before they can strike again, and want to know why it’s taking police so long to do it.