Evaluation for Accused Arsonist in Fire Injuring MA Firefighter
By Stephanie Barry
Source MassLive.com, Springfield, Mass.
SPRINGFIELD, MA—A 61-year-old city man is under court-ordered psychological care after being charged with arson in connection with a fire at a vacant home that injured a firefighter.
A blaze broke out at 347-349 Walnut St. around 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 5, according to a Springfield Fire Department spokesman.
Pedro Delafuente, of Belmont Avenue, was arrested the next day. He was captured on a nearby surveillance camera entering and exiting the property, according to court records. Investigators say they believe he doused a pair of socks and other items with gasoline, setting the two-story house on fire.
A firefighter suffered a serious ankle injury while fighting the fire and has been unable to return to work, Springfield Fire Capt. Drew Piemonte said Monday.
Delafuente appeared in Springfield District Court on Monday, when a judge ordered him committed for 20 days to a mental health facility in Boston.
According to a police report, Delafuente set the fire three days after his car was towed to a service station across the street from the abandoned home. The owner of Mascaro’s Service Station told police he recognized Delafuente as being a homeless man who “frequented the area” years before.
The station owner said Delafuente arrived at his business two hours before the blaze broke out to retrieve his car. It had been in an impound yard there, the owner told police.
“The conversation was about getting the proper title for the motor vehicle,” a police report reads.
The owner eventually gave Delafuente a ride to a gas station on Locust Street, which the owner believed was near Delafuente’s apartment.
Surveillance video from the gas station shows Delafuente buying $7 of gasoline and walking away “carrying an unknown item,” according to the police narrative. Mascaro’s video cameras captured Delafuente walking into the vacant house with a bag and walking out without one, it adds.
An accelerant-sniffing dog named Bijou located several items that smelled like gasoline amid the fire debris, the report says — including a yellow container, socks, melted clothing and three disposable lighters.
Delafuente met with police the following day and admitted to having been at the service station, the gas station and the vacant home the day before, according to the reports. Bijou then “alerted” to Delafuente’s work boots and he was arrested.
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