The Aftermath of Arson Fire At 2500 Jacato
Words cannot describe the aftermath of the January 29th arson fire at 2500 Jacato. Today members of We Are Racine took residents into the building, some of which had not been back in since the fire. The purpose was to see if any items that they cherished could be salvaged. Sadly they couldn’t. You will see the faces affected by the fire along with We Are Racine Volunteers who experienced it with them from the night of the fire on.
It was very eerie in that building, no sounds, cold, the horrible smell of smoke, and the entire 2nd floor encased in inches of ice and an unnerving blue haze from the tarps on the roof. We dug through collapsed ceilings that buried items trying to help find the little things that the people were missing, once we dug through the debris we found items frozen and immovable in inches of ice. These pictures show what happened to people lives that night. A few momentos that we tried to salvage for a woman brought back to many memories and were left behind.
The Wisconsin Insurance Council is offering up to $5,000.00 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any suspect responsible for this fire. Crime Stoppers is now offering a $1000 reward. Racine Police investigators are interested in any additional information that you may have about this crime. You are urged to call the Racine Police Department Investigations Unit at 262-635-7756.
You may also contact Crimestoppers at 262-636-9330, or by texting RACS plus the message to CRIMES (274637) and referring to Tipsoft I.D. #TIP417 with your text message.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office can be contacted with information, at 1-800-362-3005, or on the web at http://wiarsonhotline.org/index.html .
All photos courtesy and property of Jeff Burdick
2 Responses to The Aftermath of Arson Fire At 2500 Jacato
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The Patch adds this odd tidbit:
“Occasionally, vacant apartments in this area are randomly occupied by homeless individuals or other undocumented residents,” said Racine Police Chief Art Howell. “Had there been the loss of life as a result of this fire, our department would be conducting a homicide investigation.”
That’s true – but this building was occupied with functional utilities. not to say a homeless person wasn’t in there – and burned something – but it was the speed and ferocity of the fire that, in my opinion, pointed to arson. An accelerator was used – that is usually the give away.
Odd – the sudden interest from City Hall. All the tragic shootings, beatings, murders, fires and deaths – and City Hall is always silent.
Just saying – it strikes me as odd.
So what’s the future? Will it be rebuilt, or torn down?
Owner of record is still Amash LTD., bought on 05/20/2010 for $195,000.
County records still show back taxes of $37,984.98 owed. The mailing address changed from Indiana to Post Washington, WI.
Tricky Dicky
02/17/2013 at 9:47 am
Someone had bought the building about 6 months ago, he shows home for the community. I can tell you that there were 11 families in that building, no signs of squatters, he was in the process of renovating that building. I have been inside
racineuncovered
02/17/2013 at 11:14 am