“I’ve tried to make sure that we’re not reporting more, and that actually appears to be the case, that there’s actually more out there.”īrian Balega is the only fire investigator for the Municipality of Anchorage. “The numbers are what the numbers are,” Bushue said. Last year Balega says he had did not have any commercial arson cases and it’s unusual to have more than one a year.įire Chief Chris Bushue confirms that more serious arson is occurring in Anchorage this year. “That’s unusual for me to see that many of them.”

“I actually got four of them since the first of the year.” “This is the most commercial arsons I’ve seen,” Balega said. Balega says he’s seeing more serious commercial Arsons. This year APD has handled 24 arson cases, for a total of 64 total arsons in Anchorage so far. That’s not including the many smaller arsons that are routinely handled by the Anchorage Police Department each year. Of the 40 arson cases from 2013, just a handful been concluded. “This year my arsons since Januis 40.” Crews from Station 12 arrive size up a fire at the Sunrise Grill in South Anchorage. Balega says that number includes those carried over from years’ past and he’s actively investigating 54 of them. These are just two of the 88 cases Investigator Brian Balega is juggling right now. And in October a man was caught on surveillance tape setting the roof of a Mountain View pawn shop ablaze. In August, someone intentionally set several fires in a heavily wooded section of Russian Jack Springs Park.

Serious arson seems to be on the rise in Anchorage for 2013. Fire crews prepare to make an interior attack on the fire at the Sunrise Grill in South Anchorage.

Sunrise grill