Set blazes have Provincetown on edge

PROVINCETOWN - It is supposed to be a time of calm and quiet in this remote resort town, when the crowds of tourists finally recede and local residents breathe deeply and reclaim the narrow streets.

Instead, Provincetown has been put on edge the past two weeks by an arsonist believed to have lighted as many as nine fires, mostly in dumpsters and vacant buildings. Several of the blazes have broken out in broad daylight, on the busiest streets in this densely built community, where rows of wood-shingled galleries and guesthouses line the waterfront.

So far, the town of 3,500 year-round residents has been lucky; passersby have spotted the fires quickly, and the blazes were doused before they caused serious damage. But Police Chief Warren Tobias said the community is at serious risk as long as the fire-starter is at large, because of its large number of old, wooden structures built close together.

He has asked state fire investigators to help track down the arsonist, and appealed to residents to report suspicious activity. He said tips are coming in at a rate of about a half-dozen a day.

"My concern is that sooner or later, he's going to be successful, and a fire in this town could easily spread," Tobias said.

Locals' fears are heightened by memories of past fires in the dense commercial district, including one in February 1998 that caused millions of dollars in damage.

"It's causing a lot of concern in this sleepy little town," Elizabeth Lovati, the owner of Angel Foods market, said as she prepared a row of chicken pot pies for baking.

The string of suspicious fires began Oct. 22, with a dumpster fire in the West End section, where all but one of the fires have been set. Another dumpster fire and a fire in a trash can broke out the next day.

The scale of the incidents escalated the following day, when two fires were reported, at a house under construction on Bayberry Avenue and at West End Racing Club, a youth sailing program on Commercial Street, police said.

On Wednesday, the town's 60-member, all-volunteer Fire Department responded to three structure fires within six hours. The targeted buildings included two gray-shingled homes at opposite ends of Commercial Street: a historic house that was once the home of explorer Donald Baxter MacMillan, currently empty while it is being renovated, and an empty 19th-century home that once served as the gatehouse for a landmark oceanfront estate that is for sale.

"I've never seen anything like it, with the sirens and firetrucks and police cars going in and out all day," said Don Bellarosa, who owns a dry cleaners near the Fire Department. "It was like Boston."

Another fire broke out last night at a residence on Oppen Lane. A department dispatcher said it was too early to say whether its origin was suspicious.

The Halloween fires left behind blackened walls and timbers, but also yielded an important lead for investigators. An observant group of workers on property near the gatehouse gave police a description of a man they saw walking on the property just before the fire broke out Wednesday afternoon. They described him as middle-age, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, with gray hair, a baseball cap, a white T-shirt, and a blue vest, police said.

One of the workers, Liz Wagner, said she saw the man walk out from behind the house where the fire was set, with his head down and his hands in his pockets. About 45 minutes later, she said, she smelled smoke and saw smoke rising from the chimney of the empty house.

"He looked clean-cut, like he was going to his son's soccer game," she said.

Residents said they are deeply troubled by the fires, especially because the population is dwindling as winter approaches, leaving fewer people to keep watch over vacant properties.

"The town is so desolate now," said Joey Casto, owner of Monument Barber Shop, where the striped barber pole is framed by a white picket fence and sunflowers. "You could be watching, but then the minute you go to bed, something could happen."