KANSAS CITY Mo. — Fire investigators say an arsonist is setting fires in a neighborhood near 12th and Fremont in Kansas City.
Sunday’s fire was the third in four days, and this time got dangerously close to hurting an elderly woman who has lived in the neighborhood for nearly 60 years.
As water dripped from the rafters and ran down the charred skeleton of an old vacant house, 83-year-old Dorathy Confere sat on her porch next door, still shaken over just how close the blaze came.
“I was scared to death,” said Confere.
Investigators from the bomb and arson squad told FOX 4 someone set the fire twice, first on Thursday night and again early Sunday morning. The fire briefly spread to Confere’s house, scorching the siding and breaking her windows.
“It melted the blinds here,” she said.
Neighbors woke Confere so she and her dog, Timmy, could escape.
“I looked out at four to five people were out on my porch, and they are all excited and pointing and I opened the door and the house was just in flames. The whole front of the house was in deep flames. ‘You gotta get out of here. You gotta get outta here,’” said Confere.
Firefighters put a tarp over her windows, while investigators worked to find the source of the fire and some clues as to who started it.
Just around the corner from the house, firefighter fought a similar fire on Saturday. Investigators say it was also arson, also a vacant house and is probably connected to the one that almost took Confere’s longtime home.
Investigators say someone in the neighborhood probably knows who is setting the fires. If you have information, please call the TIPS Hotline at (816)474-TIPS.
