SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - A record-setting string of suspicious
fires in South Dakota's largest city has stopped as suddenly as it
started - and no one has been arrested.
Sioux Falls Assistant Fire Marshall Michael Top says that once
law-enforcement officials formed a task force and offered a $10,000
reward, the arsons stopped.
He says fire officials are happy things have quieted, but the
investigation is continuing. The spate began in early September and
lasted about two months. Firefighters responded to blazes in
garages, sheds and vehicles, mostly set at night in a 10-block span
in central Sioux Falls. Top says the arsonist or arsonists might
have set as many as 28 fires.
According to FBI data, there were just 25 arsons reported in all
of 2010 in the city of 160,000 residents.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-12-21-11 1514EST
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