Perryville police seek suspect in two fires

Police in Perryville, Missouri, are looking for a person responsible for a pair of Monday night fires.

Just before 8:30 p.m. Monday, firefighters received a call about decorative hay bales burning in front of a beauty salon at 7 N. Main St., said Bill Jones, assistant fire and police chief.

Firefighters still were trying to extinguish the bales when a passer-by reported another fire a few minutes later, Jones said.

"While we're at that call, we had a guy come up in a pickup truck, honking, saying, 'Hey, there's another set of hay bales burning about five blocks down,'" he said.

The second fire turned out to be a bag of trash sitting against a utility pole in the area of Walnut and North streets, Jones said. The burning trash ignited the pole, which was coated with a flammable chemical.

Because firefighters arrived quickly, they put out the fire before it caused serious damage to the pole, but the situation could have gotten out of hand, he said.

"While it appears that these could be harmless pranks, the fact of the matter is that both of these things could have been extremely dangerous," Jones said. "Had that not been called in as soon as it was, you had a charged utility line -- live utility lines on a pole. ... Water and electricity doesn't go well together. That's inherently dangerous for our crew."

If the pole had fallen down, the falling power lines could have endangered people living in the area, he said.

The burning hay bales, which were sitting up against the building, also could have caused serious damage, Jones said.

"It's not that difficult for those to get started when you have something that's laying up against them that's burning. ... That is certainly something to think about if someone's contemplating doing something that they think is a joke," he said.

Jones said witnesses saw someone resting on the hay bales before they caught fire and running from the area of the burning trash.

"I'm sure it's the same person," he said.

Unfortunately, while police had a detailed description of the person's clothing, the rest of the suspect's physical description was so broad it could apply to just about anybody, Jones said.

He asked anyone with information about either fire to call the Perryville Police Department at 573-547-4546.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

7 N. Main St., Perryville, Mo.

Walnut Street and North Street, Perryville, Mo.