CAT Tracks for September 7, 2009 CORDELL McGOY...CAIRO FIRES

Those of you with broadband access...

Current resident and former Cairo City Counci Member Cordell McGoy delivers a STRONG interview concerning the rash of recent fires.

Good for you, Cordell...

For those of you without broadband access, Cordell's remarks are included in the "hard copy" article below.

String Of Weekend Fires Being Investigated In Cairo

By Andy Waterman

CAIRO-- Officials are investigating a fire that broke out Sunday morning in Cairo. The occurrence is the third in the last four days, and the latest in a rash of fires that have been plaguing the city for months.

Arson investigators were on scene all weekend, taking pictures and surveying each incident. Resident Cordell McGoy says these suspicious fires have gone on long enough.

"We have to report suspicious people in and around these houses, we have to keep our eyes open because eventually, somebody is going to get killed, someone's going to get burned real bad, get hurt, or die...from the negligence of someone in town setting fires."

The first fire started on Thursday at the corner of Commercial Avenue and 10th street. Investigators are calling it arson, which adds it to a list of suspicious fires in town.

"We've had some pretty serious fires here in the last few weeks, we've really had some serious fires in the last few years, and someone has to go to jail eventually, we have to make an arrest, we have to stop this, we have to be vigilant, we have to stand together," says McGoy.

Fires from Saturday and Sunday are still under investigation. The first blaze was on 17th street near the railroad tracks, destroying most of a shed that stored rail cars and other materials.

Approximately 24 hours later, fire broke out at a house on the corner of 22nd Street and Martin Luther King.

Authorities say that flames were so out of control, they spread to a few other buildings on the block. McGoy says that if this keeps happening, he may be forced to move.

"I feel threatened, I feel sad, and I'm very much alarmed and worried about the future of the community and the safety. If a fire were to get out of control, and we couldn't get it under control, someone could be killed, and that's the last thing we want in the city of Cairo."

Sunday night, investigators had not determined whether or not the last two fires were the work of an arsonists.