Arson Hits Three Homes in Tampa, Florida Neighborhood

TAMPA Alfredo Liriano got a breathless phone call Monday morning, hours before new tenants were to move in his rental house in Tampa Heights.

"Your house is on fire," the neighbor told Liriano.

Liriano, who lives down the street, rushed to the yellow wooden house at 3802 N. Arlington Ave. and saw flames pouring through the back windows and roof. "Everything inside is burned," he said.

Liriano's rental property was one of three houses in Tampa Heights that burned on Monday morning. All the homes were vacant, and no one was hurt.

Detectives have ruled the cases arson and continue to investigate whether they were caused by an individual or several people, Tampa Police Department spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

Police have not released how the fires were set.

"It's wide open right now," McElroy said of the investigation.

The fires were in a three-block area in central Tampa Heights, between Highland and Florida avenues and south of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

The first blaze, at 5:47 a.m., destroyed a house at 3809 N. Highland Ave. The second, at 6:27 a.m., caused minor damage to a home at 3810 N. Tampa St.

Firefighters were called to Liriano's property at 6:29 a.m.

Investigators said the second fire was on the same block as the first, on opposite sides but connected by an alley. The third fire was down the street from the first.

Police said a witness saw a person walking briskly away from the blaze when authorities responded to the first fire.

Officers searched the area for 21/2 hours from West Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to East Floribraska Avenue and North Florida Avenue to North Highland Avenue.

Fire marshals and detectives were in the neighborhood for most of Monday, scouring the houses for clues and interviewing residents. Several streets were blocked, and yellow crime-scene tape surrounded the three houses.

Liriano's house had a red and white sign tacked on the front porch that said "Arson" and offered a reward. The front door was open, and charred debris littered the living room. The acrid smell of smoke lingered in the air.

Liriano, 49, said he called his new tenants Monday afternoon about the fire. He told them his mother-in-law owns property in the area and they would be able to rent one of her houses.

He said he's waiting to hear from his insurance company and isn't sure when he can begin repairs. He's more frustrated with the situation than concerned about an arsonist on the loose.

"I'm not scared at all," Liriano said. "But when something like this happens, who loses? The homeowner."

Gail Smiley-Dixon, who lives near the damaged homes, said sirens, flashing lights and billowing smoke woke her up Monday morning.

"When I looked out, I was like, 'Oh my gosh,'" said Smiley-Dixon, the crime watch coordinator for the Tampa Heights Civic Association. "It was pretty scary."

Tampa Heights residents aren't strangers to arson. Thirteen years ago, about 60 fires along the community's eastern border near Ybor City terrified homeowners.

Most of the fires were started in crawl spaces beneath houses. Once, someone broke into a home and started a fire in the attic.

Police eventually arrested a 34-year-old man and charged him with one of the 60 arsons. The arson charge was dropped, but the man was sentenced to 30 years in prison on a weapons charge.

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