By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis – There were two more fires in the McRee Town neighborhood in south St. Louis Monday morning. No one was hurt in the vacant buildings, and both are believed to be arson.
Fire Department spokeswoman Kim Bacon says the rash of fires in that area has been in the public spotlight for about a month now, but the department has been investigating the area since the summer.
"We saw a pattern forming large before it became a matter of community interest," Bacon said. "What changed was that all of a sudden, we were fighting multiple fires in that area at the same time. But we've been looking into fires and gathering evidence from the fires since the summer, when they began."
In the more than 15 fires that have been deliberately set in McRee Town, only one firefighter was slightly injured. But Bacon says if they continue, it's only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed.