Surveillance Effort Deters Suspected Arsonist

There was one more suspicious fire in Novato overnight, but police investigating what they believe is the work of an arsonist don’t know yet if the Monday night fire is connected to 56 other small fires tallied since Saturday, said.

Sgt. Oliver Collins said a garbage can was burned at a residence in Ignacio sometime between 8:45 and 9:15 p.m. Monday. The can was out near the curb for morning pickup off Ignacio Boulevard near the neighborhood, he said.

“Typically we wouldn’t look twice at it, but because of the circumstances of the past few days, we’re looking into it,” he said. “It does not appear to be the same M.O. as the other fires. It’s just a melted lump of garbage can now, but our investigators are going to look and see what they can pick up out of it.”

Collins said Novato police worked closely Monday night with the and the Marin County Sheriff’s Office in a surveillance effort around the city.

“We put out a lot of resources to deter and gather intelligence, but didn’t really come up with anything,” he said.

The suspicious fires began at Saturday night/Sunday morning that didn’t do any damage or injure anyone. By Monday morning, the after investigators added new fires from that night and had a chance to provide an accurate count of previous fires.

Almost all the fires have been in subdivisions off South Redwood Boulevard such as Seascape Village, Gateway, Sequoia Glen and Cheda Knolls. The largest of the fires was measured at about half an acre in a remote section of the Rush Creek Open Space Preserve in the northeast side of town, near the Bahia neighborhood.

Officers handling the arson investigation are following up on every tip received, Collins said, and residents are encouraged to call in any suspicious activity to Novato police at 897-4361 during the day or 897-1122 at night. Also, anonymous tips can be left at 1-800-848-0101.