44 Harrison Street fire – labeled ‘suspicious’
POUGHKEEPSIE – A fire that heavily damaged a house at 44 Harrison
Street on Saturday has been labeled ‘suspicious’ by Poughkeepsie
fire officials. It’s not the first such fire in recent weeks.
First Ward Councilman Christopher Petsas said he wants answers from police
and the fire department.
“To provide us and the public with some background on the fires that we’ve had, how many of them, where they are and where we are in the investigation, because I will say that I don’t think we’re putting enough resources into trying to figure out what’s going on over there,” Petsas said, suggesting perhaps enlisting state police, and even the FBI.
Petsas said the fires appear to be concentrated on an area of a few blocks on the north side.
Mayor Robert Rolison noted that as standard procedure, he met the morning after the Harrison Street fire with police and fire officials.
“I can tell you that we have not had any calls about 44 Harrison since 2015, so it was not on our neighborhood stabilization list, not that that is the end-all, be-all, however you want phrase that,” the mayor said, adding there were nine suspicious fires last year, mostly in vacant structures.
Rolison said they will have a detailed report for the next council meeting on February 6.
