GRANDVIEW, Mo. — Several fires that started in Grandview over the weekend may have been set on purpose, investigators said.
"It's pretty scary that this stuff actually happens and everything," said Tiffany Fike, a Stoneybrook South Residen who was inside her apartment when flames broke out at the complex. "All I really saw was the fire trucks and I saw the lights."
The Grandview Fire Department was on their way to another fire in the area when they saw flames at Stoneybrook South, located on Thomas Avenue.
"Turned out we had this fire and two other fires a block away at a senior complex," Grandview Fire Marshal Lewis Austin said.
Just after 12:30 a.m. Sunday, the call came in that a dumpster was on fire at Prairie Estates on Jones Avenue. When firefighters arrived, they found a second fire behind the maintenance building.
"It's very suspicious that we have three fires within a block of each other," Austin said.
Fike said there had been problems at Stoneybrook South Apartments, where the most damage took place. She said recently, the maintenance crew had been finding homeless people inside their buildings.
"He's kicking people out of the laundry room all of the time," Fike said.
While investigators believe the fires were started on purpose, Fike said she believes she knows why.
"The maintenance guy just kicked somebody out of the laundry room. [The fire] happened about 25 minutes later, so I'm thinking they got mad at him for kicking them out," Fike said.
Austin said he agrees.
"Someone is upset about something. There's something that teed somebody off. That's why they'll use fire to get back at somebody. A revenge thing," Austin said.
Anyone with information about the fires is encouraged to call Austin at (816) 316-4961.
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