Another round of suspicious fires illuminated the night skies Thursday at a rental community that has been the scene of recent disputes over eviction notices.
Just after 10 p.m. firefighters from several Saratoga County agencies responded to an area off Beach Road where they found at least two abandoned camps ablaze. No injuries were reported, but the fires are the second in less than a week at the campsite where property owners Gary and Gail Krause evicted dozens of tenants last month to make way for a condominium project.
Late Saturday three abandoned camps on the property burned and fire officials have said that those blazes were intentionally set. The fires on Thursday are being investigated as arson.
"It's disheartening that somebody is doing this because they are putting a lot of lives in danger whether they realize it or not," said West Cresent Assistant Fire Chief John Meehan.
Firefighters from Jonesville and Waterford-Halfmoon also responded.
Gary Krause also expressed his frustration but said the fires will not discourage developers from proceeding with plans for the property. However, he said plans to demolish at least four of the camps today will now have to be put off while the area is cleared and the arson investigation continues.
"Somebody's coming through here and thinks it's a big laugh to burn down abandoned camps, but it's not a good idea," Krause said.
The camps that burned were about 100 yards apart.
Tenants had owned about 40 homes at the campsite which shadows the Mohawk River. But a majority of them departed May 1 following bitter disputes with the Krauses to whom they paid $300 a month to rent the land.
Some trashed their homes and allegedly vandalized the Krauses' nearby restaurant. A town judge ordered five families evicted from the property for nonpayment of rent. Eight others have lawsuits pending against the Krauses, alleging fraud and retaliatory eviction. About four families still reside on the property.
Neither Krause nor police officials commented on a possible motive.
Although the camps that burned Thursday were abandoned, at least one of them still had electric service which posed a safety problem for approaching firefighters.
As wiring burned, electric sparks shot 20 to 30 feet in the air, keeping firefighters at bay. As a result, Meehan said they had to wait about 15 to 20 minutes until Niagara Mohawk crews arrived to cut the power.
