Tucson Weekly: Is Midvale Park Burning? (June 17

Is Midvale Park Burning?

A Firebug Plagues A Middle-Class Neighborhood As Insurance Companies Get Nervous And Residents Grow Suspicious.
By Dan Huff
SINCE LAST AUGUST, there have been at least 10 arson-caused fires in Midvale Park, a sprawling westside development of relatively new, middle-class homes.
Police have a confusing welter of leads to follow, and their task is made more difficult because the firebug strikes around midnight or during the early morning hours, when no one is around to notice, says Tucson Police Det. Terry Wilson, an arson investigator.
"The first warning that something's wrong usually comes when someone hears the crackling of flames," Wilson says.
Currents So far, no one's died.
Wilson says the Midvale arsonist is especially difficult to trace because he uses no accelerants--although in one case flaming fireworks were tossed inside a car--and, with the exception of one abandoned house, he seems to delight in torching unlocked vehicles, using whatever's available inside--newspapers, registration papers, fast-food packaging--to light up the night.
And because his targets are unlocked, "There's no sound of smashing glass to alert the neighbors," Wilson notes.
Says one resident, himself an arson victim who asked not to be identified for fear he'll be hit again, "All of these fires were within a quarter mile of my house. The night that my second vehicle was set on fire, we found out later the house across the street was broken into and set on fire. And there was a dumpster fire, too.
"We heard nothing, saw nothing--except when the neighbor came pounding on the door."
And if that neighbor hadn't been coming home from a party at 2:30 a.m., he says, well, there's some question whether he'd be alive to discuss the problem today.
Adds his wife, "One fire near our house was in a van, a junker. It was around midnight, and I was awakened by the light. In that case it was in a carport and the carport caught fire, and there was a baby in the house.
"But the last fire was the worst. It happened on the street behind us. The family was asleep. There was some sort of four-by-four in the driveway and another vehicle parked beside it. And they set the four-by-four on fire, and the other vehicle caught fire and had heavy damage. And it caught the garage on fire. There were children in that house, too."
Aside from the devastation some Midvale residents have experienced seeing their property go up in flames, not to mention the rude awakenings, the worst part is this:
Most of the fires have occurred within a few blocks of one particular neighborhood--bordered by Valencia Road to the south, Midvale Park Road to the east, Drexel Road to the north, and a large wash to the west--and now some residents there are finding it difficult to renew their homeowner's insurance with longtime carriers.
Don Harris, spokesman for the state Department of Insurance, notes that except in a few rare instances, usually involving fraud or nonpayment of policy premiums, insurers doing business in Arizona must renew auto coverage. But the law is much less strict when it comes to homeowner's policies.
Basically, companies are free to renew or not renew--leaving the hapless homeowner high and tinderbox dry.
In the case of the Midvale Park couple awakened by the panicky neighbor's post-party door pounding, their insurer, Allstate, with revenues of $3.95 billion and a net income of $550 million last year, declined to renew their coverage.
"Non renewals are pretty rare," says Joe Gacioch, an Allstate spokesman. "But when it comes to houses, we can non renew if the risk is too high for us."
The woman says her insurance agent referred them to a group of high-risk underwriters. "We went through about six, and they all turned us down because the [arson] situation was still ongoing."
Then, a few weeks ago, their mortgage company notified them that if they failed to obtain insurance, they'd have coverage for the house but not its contents.
Last week, says the woman, "We finally got insurance. One company said they'd provide it--at a much higher rate, but for much less coverage. Which means they've depreciated the value of our house. We had replacement value before, now they have it at $10,000 less than what our house was worth when we bought it." And her husband's tools and other valuables won't be covered.
To add insult to injury, their rates have doubled, and the extra cost will amount to $1,500 to $2,500 over the next three to five years--assuming police catch the arsonist.
Which is exactly what Wilson and the rest of the TPD arson squad are trying to do.
But with all the residents calling in with information, he says, "We're getting quite a confusing array of suspect information. For example, someone will call to say, 'Some guy lives next door to me, and years ago he set a fire.' We'll narrow it all down and see what we can come up with, but in the meantime, if people would just lock their car doors, maybe we could prevent some of these fires."
Of course, no amount of insurance or police protection will prevent neighborly animosities from smoldering, even in Midvale Park.

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