Police and fire investigators suspect a possible link between a recent rash of fires in Ann Arbor.
An investigation was launched Friday after two people narrowly escaped the flames of a deliberately set fire that spread from a car to a mobile home in Scio Township said.
Five cars also were set ablaze Sunday at different locations near the University's campus. They were started by igniting scraps of paper that had been placed inside the vehicles. The damage totaled more than $1,500 per car.
Detective Sgt. Roy Mays of the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department said the fires that destroyed a car and a mobile home at Scio Farms Estates last Friday were similar to at least six other fires that have been reported in the same park.
"The damage has been fairly extensive to various objects - cars, trash dumpsters," Mays said. "There have been enough of these fires to show that there's a serious problem that needs to be addressed."
Agencies involved in the investigation include the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department, Ann Arbor police and fire departments and the Department of Public Safety.
Ann Arbor Fire Marshall Scott Rayburn said it's too early to jump to any conclusions about the fires' causes.
"We are trying to see if the recent fires are related or if they are just coincidental. There have been some similarities and we want to see if this could be one person or a group," Rayburn said. "At this point, it is trying to put information together and figuring out what the next step should be in terms of further investigation."
Rayburn said there recently have been similar fires in the same vicinity.
"The fires have been in a general neighborhood, all of them involving cars, and others set in apartment storage areas, laundry rooms and hallways," Rayburn said.
"Right now we are taking a close look at some possible leads and hopefully we can resolve the issue," DPS detective Paul Vaughan said, adding that he will be working with other agencies regarding fires that have been set on campus.
"We're not prepared to give out details, but I can say that we have had some fires that are under investigation, and we are pooling information," Vaughan said. "We are trying to see if the fires happening in the city and the rest of the county are all due to the same individual or group."
Sheriff's records show there have been 19 fires in scattered locations throughout Scio Township. Twelve of them involved motor vehicles
"There have been different methods used to set the fires that have cost over $1,000,000," May said. "We are working hard with other departments to try and put together the pieces of a puzzle and we simply just don't know how it's going to turn out."