BROCTON, N.Y. — Fires were set outside of two different Brocton churches within 40 minutes of each other, and the suspect is still at large.
The first fire was set outside of the Tri-Church Parish at 3:30 a.m. Monday morning and shortly followed by another fire at the Fellowship Church at 4:07 a.m.
Pastor of Fellowship Church Sandi Ball woke up Monday morning to a call from the Sheriff’s Office telling her a fire was set in front of her church.
“I don’t necessarily think it was somebody who is down on religion. I think it was just a homeless person coming through. I think we will take a look at security and see if there’s something we can improve.”
The fire left a noticeable burn mark just outside the front doors.
37 minutes prior, the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s office said another fire just like it was set at the Tri-Church Parish, which is only a mile up the road.
This fire was set nearly 10 years to the day that it was burned down by an arsonist.
“When the second report came in within a mile of each other, then it caught our eye, and we dedicated a couple investigators for the last two days to it,” said Chautauqua County undersheriff Richard Telford.
The Tri-Church Parish declined to comment on what happened Monday.
The Brocton fire chief William Hussey shared that the fires weren’t reported until several hours after they put themselves out, but at their peak, surveillance video showed they were 3 to 5 feet tall.
“If it would have gotten into the siding, [the building] would have taken off [in flames].”
Undersheriff Telford feels that both sites of the fires being churches could just be a coincidence.
“We have no definite information they were targeted, or that it’s a terrorist attack of any sort.”
He also shared that their office is not convinced that these two nearby fires are arson attacks.
“From the video, it doesn’t appear that he is trying to keep it going enough or close enough to set the buildings on fire,” Telford said. “If the individual wanted that church to burn, he or she didn’t stick around long enough to make sure that it burned.”
Telford said they are looking at the possibility that this is “a transient person maybe looking to get warm or cook something.”
When asked “if the short gap between the fires would be odd for somebody creating fires out of necessity?” He replied with:
“That’s another question we’ve asked ourselves. If they were trying to stay warm or cook something, why did they leave one location and start another one.”
The Sheriff’s Office has no suspect named but shared these photos of the potential culprit.
They were last seen wearing dark clothes, a hoodie or coat, a large backpack, and white shoes.
Anybody with information is asked to call the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office at 716-753-4232 and ask for Inv. Walter or Deputy Karlstrom.
