Introduction

The Arson Capital of the Nation

Arson; the crime of maliciously and intentionally, or recklessly, starting a fire or causing an explosion. (NFPA 921, 2017 Edition)Arson; the willful or malicious burning of property (such as a building) especially with criminal or fraudulent intent.(Merriam-Webster)

This case had the ingredients of a movie thriller, but it was real life. Nobody could have imagined what was uncovered by an arson investigation that spanned almost three years, from 1982 to 1984. How could nine men conspire in, and collaborate to carry out, an insidious plot to burn so many buildings within the City of Boston and four surrounding counties? During one stretch in the summer of 1982, fires burned almost nightly, leading national news outlets to dub Boston the “arson capital of the nation.”

Incredibly, most of the men involved were police officers and/or firefighters, as well as security personnel, who were sworn to serve and protect the public. Most of them had wanted to become professional firefighters. All of them were actually fire buffs, known informally as “sparks.” However, these men were a militant faction that splintered off from the legitimatehobbyists.

Some nights there were more multiple alarm fires in Boston than are now experienced in several months. Property damage was counted in the tens of millions in early 1980s dollars. Although there was no evidence that anyone died from any of these fires, a couple hundred firefighters plus some civilians were injured during the arsonspree.

The following account provides the reader with viewpoints from the investigators, the prosecutors, the firefighters who fought the fires, the citizens who lived in fear, and the arsonists themselves—their thoughts, their actions, and their actual words. You will be amazed, shocked, and bewildered by their reprehensible individual and group motivations and gain insights into their chilling scheme to set a record number of fires that had everyone baffled and drew national mediaattention.

The main motivation of the arson ring members for setting so many fires in such a short period of time was an attempt to extort the City of Boston and Commonwealth of Massachusetts into changing the property tax-cutting initiative known as Proposition 21/2, which had been passed by a sizable majority of the citizens of Massachusetts on the November 1980 ballot. Prop 2½ cut local tax revenues of over 350 Massachusetts towns and cities by some 450 million dollars, with little hope for Federal or state funds to make up the difference, forcing localities to cut public services andjobs.

Some of you may think that these guys were patriots rightfully exercising civil disobedience, with some of their idealistic actions actually resulting in successful government reversals. Indeed, they initially thought of themselves as a twisted modern-day version of Robin Hood and his gang of merry men; if enough fires were set, then all of the laid-off firefighters would be rehired and the closed firehouses would all be reopened. And they imagi