What We Know about Fires and Arrests Last Weekend

Photo: Image of a mattress burned last weekend on Fern Street, near the City Attorney’s office

According to a press release from ELPD “Last week, after the MSU football win against Oregon, there were seven fires set in the City of East Lansing, primarily in student areas. These fires are extremely dangerous to bystanders in the area, but also to first responders that are called to extinguish them. Responding to these fires multiple times in a single night can also affect the response time to those in the community in need of medical attention.”

East Lansing Police Department’s (ELPD’s) Lieutenant Scott Wriggelsworth, who we reached earlier this week, says the fires involved “No structures, and no injuries, all trash and/or furniture related. 1 person arrested for being within 300 ft of a fire, and not calling 911 or trying to extinguish.”

Unable to reach the East Lansing Fire Department (ELFD) after multiple calls this week, we have nevertheless learned from another source that four of the fires were in the Oakwood neighborhood, which is the old downtown neighborhood just north and west of Valley Court Park. (Disclosure: I live in Oakwood near several of the fires.) We don’t yet have information on the other fires.

Wriggelsworth told us he did not have information on the number of people transported to the hospital by ambulance. He referred us to the ELFD, which, again, has not responded to our calls this week. (Note: Both ELFD and ELPD had many staff this week participating in funeral services for Lansing firefighter Dennis Rodeman. ELFD and the rest of the City system has also been having phone problems this week.)

According to Wriggelsworth, “30 people were arrested [last] weekend. Mostly for alcohol related offenses.” Alleged offenses included minors-in-possession of alcohol, disorderly conduct, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Wriggelsworth said there was also “dedicated pre-game alcohol enforcement in the city,” and that involved issuing fifty citations from 1 pm through 7:30 pm on Saturday.

Wrigglesworth says that “we were able to keep up with our call volume” but was not sure whether ELFD was able to.

The Oakwood neighborhood has been advised by the City to start a neighborhood watch to use during the next MSU home football game. The neighborhood is following that advice. We have also just learned that The City of East Lansing has dedicated reward money for information leading to the arrest of anyone setting illegal fires within the city limits. The amount of reward will depend on the information given and the charges issued. Tips can remain anonymous. Anyone with information/evidence is asked to call 1-877-ELPD-TIP or send an email to elpdtips@elpolice.com. 

One fire that occurred in Oakwood went unreported by a group of students under the age of 21 because they had been drinking and were afraid of arrest if they called authorities. There is an amnesty program that protects underage drinkers from prosecution if they call for medical reasons, but there is no amnesty that protects them for calling to report criminal activity.