Community Post

Attempted Arson?

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This morning on my walk I came upon a neatly piled (potential) bonfire in the alley between 25th and 26th, north of Columbia. It was not burning, but could have been. The pile consisted of an upended couch, tires, scrap wood, and an old metal 5-gallon can of paint which had soaked the couch and created a huge pool of oil underneath. (Also there was a television and computer monitor nearby.)  It appeared to be all items that people may have put out in the alley for eventual trips to the dump — except for the wood that may have come from a nearby yard waste container overflowing with scrap wood. I called the fire department and they came to take care of it.   I mention this to the community only as a reminder that  keeping flammable material locked up, or taken to the dump/transfer station helps keep crimes of opportunity to a minimum.

3 thoughts on “Attempted Arson?”

  2. I agree with Hazel — I live near there and this is only the most recent case of illegal dumping. I’m sick of people deciding to leave their trash in my alley.

  3. Dumping is something that will not go away. We need to budget for it and respond to it faster. Many people can’t afford dump fees or the time to go to the transfer station. I can’t. Fortunately I work for a disopsal company and take my trash to work.

    Lot’s of people just dump at Goodwill or Salvation Army. They spend 10s of thousands disposiong of just the paints and other chemicals dumped. Not sure how much their disposal bills are – but huge.

    I see landscapers and building maintenance folks dumping behind buildings here in the CD. Call that it and see who cares. Nobody. I dump metal at the corner of King and Dearborn on Saturday mornings – but that disappears within an hour.

    Bottom line – we do have a city number to clean up dumped materials. We just need to fund it and get them out on patrol. It is one of the few things I would spend more on. moron – hey hey.