Six arson fires in trash bins at five Howard County schools late Sunday and early yesterday may have been pranks, but fire officials say the incidents could have prevented them from responding to serious calls.
The fires caused no serious property damage, said Lt. Dan Merson, a spokesman for the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue.
Fire officials said the fires appeared to be set by the same person or group. Five of the incidents were in Ellicott City and one was in Columbia's Hickory Ridge Village. At some of the schools, more than one of the big trash bins was set afire, fire officials said. In one case, the arsonists returned to the Patapsco Middle School an hour after a fire crew put out the fire there and started a new one, they said.
The fires being investigated by the state fire marshal's office are:
* 10:07 p.m.: Centennial Elementary School.
* 10:38 p.m.: Burleigh Manor Middle School.
* 10:44 p.m.: Mount Hebron High School.
* 11:02 p.m.: Patapsco Middle School.
* 11:43 p.m.: Atholton High School in Columbia.
* 12:04 a.m.: Patapsco Middle.
Such fires endanger public safety, officials say.
"By our units being committed to that many Dumpster fires in that short period of time, it could take us longer to gather resources we need for something else and limit our response time," Lieutenant Merson said.