Arson Arrest Made

[AllanY2525]

Asbestos and building fires:

http://www.asbestosnetwork.com/exposure/ex_firefighters.htm

[Youngstownshrimp]

With due respect, hogwash.  My stepfather had asbestosis, as it was called then.  I am not an expert, but I bet the amount of asbestos released by a fire is insignificant overall.  My stepfather got asbestosis from working for years building submarines in an enclosed environment.  I've learned in our society, lead paint, asbestos, EPA, have evolved into obstruction in our economic place in the world.  Obviously, the initial concepts were all good but again us greedy people devolved it into the justification of government funding to keep their lazy jobs.  This is the phenomenon of bureaucracy and it is completely out of control and is leading to the down fall of our great nation, take a hard look at YTown and the entire public sector system.

[AllanY2525]

Precisely, Steve....good point.

I shot video of the last arson fire on Pennsylvania Avenue - the burning embers
were shooting at least a hundred feet into the air - and the roof of my van
(parked around the corner on Park Avenue) was covered with ashes by the time
I ran out of video tape, shut the camera off and returned to the van.

It was an unbelievable sight - it was like watching a glowing snowfall in a
nuclear winter.  You can see the video for yourself at:

http://allthingsyoungstown.net/videos/penn_ave_arson.htm

(you'll need to have QuickTime player/Mozilla installed to see it in your browser)

Most of the photos I have seen (or taken myself) of the homes on Pennsylvania
Avenue show that they were steam heated.  Steam heat = asbestos.  It was the
predominant insulating material of those times.

[AllanY2525]

I am not in favor of planned, legal arson - it would still cost the tax payers
to pay the Y.F.D. to do a "controlled burn" on these houses, and tie up
valuable city resources in the process. 

When a vacant building unexpectdly goes up in flames, hazardous materials such
as asbestos are openly released into the atmosphere during the fire.  This
creates an immediate danger to anyone within close proximity to the site
of the fire.  Asbestos abatement is a requirement prior to demolition for
the very same reason.  Asbestos does not "burn up" in a building fire,
which is why it used to be used as "fire-proofing".

The current practice is to let vacant houses that are on the demolition list
burn to the ground, under supervision, if it doesn't endanger any buildings
in the immediate vicinity - or any people.  The only problem with this, is
that any un-abated toxic materials in the burning structure are released
into the enviroment because it's obviously impossible to go into a burning
building to make an assessment of what potentially harmful stuff is in it.

I don't know whether or not this is actually city policy, but it is the status-quo.
The down side of this practice, of course, is that it encourages these
nut-bags to torch these places, thinking they are doing the city a "favor".,
and sooner or later, someone will be hurt or killed because of one of these
fires - including Y.F.D. firefighters. 

[Youngstownshrimp]

From another angle, this man may be smarter than us all.  I would bet from his perspective, he is doing the community a service.  Someone wrote in the Vindy blog not to long ago, that instead of begging and spending all HUD money on demolition, it would be faster and economical if all the abandoned structures were burned down by the fire dept.  Now that we have found deconstruction to be not economically feasable in the real world, and the limited demand for salvage material, this approach might expediantly change our landscape.

[Towntalk]

Channel 27 WKBN reported the same bond as did 33 WYTV but the two stations share the news department. Couldn't find the story on WFMJ web site or the Vindicator.

[Towntalk]

WYTV reported tonight that a man has been arrested on arson charges on the North Side.

"An arrest has been made in one of three arson's being investigated on Youngstown's north side.

52 year-old Steven Demidovich was arrested by Youngstown police and charged in connection with a fire at 259 Park Avenue. That fire happened in late October. The historic stone mansion was empty at the time of the blaze. Two other arson fires happening around the same time and in the same area are still under investigation. Both are on Pennsylvania Avenue in the Wick Park area. A $5-thousand- dollar bond has been set for Demidovich."