Investigators search for possible arsonist following five suspicious fires in Antioch, California

West views of San Francisco South Bay and Santa Cruz Mountains with classic California rolling hills from Mission Peak Regional Preserve in the East Bay.

Contra Costa County fire officials are asking for help from the public in order to try and find out who started five suspicious vegetation fires on the 10th September in Antioch, California.
Between around 5:30pm and 11:30pm in an area less than a mile in length between L and Hargrove streets, all five fires took place, which has led the authorities to believe it could be arson.
At 5:38pm at Parsons Lane and Lela Way, the first fire was reported according to the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Captain Lisa Martinez, while the second was at Somerset Place and Plymouth Lane – just northeast of the first – at 7:58pm.
The blaze in question burned a segment of a fence and a home at 1601 Somerset Place, but it then looked like the possible arsonist headed west as another fire was reported near the railroad tracks at Biglow Drive and Gary Avenue at 9:11pm.
The fourth fire was further west at 56 E. Madill Street and was reported at 11pm, and the damage from that fire may have burned a structure on Alpha Way.
Further west yet at Holly Lane at Fitzuren Road, the fifth and final fire was called in at 11:37pm.
There was also a fire by  Lone Tree Way, which investigators state that it initially started out as a vegetation fire, which spread to a tree and then to a second floor of a church, burning through chairs, air conditioners and computers.
The Fire Marshal for the area, Robert Marshall, said that investigators are still trying to figure out if this fire is related to the other suspicious fires in the region.
Thankfully, no-one was injured in the fires, however, investigators – at time of writing – still have no leads in the case. The fires were deemed suspicious due to their location and the time of the day they took place.

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