ATF to help Gary authorities investigate suspicious fires
May 4, 2021
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GARY, Ind. (AP) The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will help the Gary police and fire departments investigate a series of recent suspicious fires, authorities said Tuesday.
Firefighters from throughout Lake and Porter counties worked Saturday night and early Sunday to extinguish blazes at 17 vacant buildings in 11 different locations throughout Gary, Fire Chief Sean O’Donnell said.
Some of the structures were fully engulfed when firefighters arrived, he said.
No injuries were reported among residents or firefighters, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported.
Gary Mayor Jerome Prince said the city’s fire and police departments immediately began an investigation and it became clear the city needed to seek all the resources it could to bring anyone who might be responsible to justice.
GARY â Gary officers and their union are warning that staffing and recruitment efforts will only get more difficult at the Gary Police Department after the administration vetoed pay raises and the council failed to garner enough votes for an override.Â
The Gary Common Council needed six yes votes to override the mayor s veto, but only five voted in favor. Council members Dwight Williams, Cozey Weatherspoon and Clorius Lay voted against the one-time pay boost, echoing Mayor Jerome Prince s concern that even a 3% one-time raise would be unsustainable in future years.
Gary cops are already among some of the lower paid in Northwest Indiana relative to some of the busier, higher crime departments, said Gary Police Sgt. Greg Wolf, president for Fraternal Order of Police Ben K. Perry Lodge #61.