Incendiarism in two fires here, other alarms

This story was published by The Ypsilanti Daily Press on Saturday, January 25, 1930.

Indications that incendiaries was responsible for two of four blazes which caused runs by the fire department during the night and early this morning was being investigated by Fire Chief Alonso H. Miller and other authorities today.

A search was being made for a man, a stranger whose name was not learned, who was said to have visited the barn home at the rear of the business block on E. Cross St. occupied by Ruben Domisile, and later the rooms occupied by Korrol Strunko in an otherwise vacant house at 213 N. Park St.

Fire at both places are said to have started shortly after the departure of the stranger. At the barn damage was slight, being confined to a pile of rubbish in the rear of the quarters occupied by Domisile, a junk dealer, while a serious blaze development at the Park St. address gaining considerable headway before firemen were called, and seriously damaging the house.

Strunko, who was driven into the street scantily clad when the fire was discovered, was taken to Beyer Memorial Hospital by Ernest M. Maddux, a special officer, and it was reported today that he had one foot frozen. He reported the loss of a sum of money which had disappeared between the time of the mysterious visitor’s departure and the discovery of the fire. Strunko is said to know the man, and officers were attempting to learn the latter’s address in Detroit. Strunko is a foreigner and was able to give little information. Like Domisile, he occupied his quarters alone.

The fire at Domisile’s place occurred at 7 o’clock Friday evening, shortly after the stranger had left and is believed to have gone directly to Strunko’s quarters where he stayed for a time before the second fire broke out early this morning.

A lighted cigarette which lodged in back of a baseboard in the Pullen lunch room on North Washington St. shortly before 1 o’clock is believed to have caused smoke which was seen and reported to the fire department as being seen in the Ehman and Greenstreet real estate office next door. A waiter in the restaurant extinguished the cigarette and firemen found no signs of a further blaze.

The fourth call answered by the department proved nothing more than a chimney burning out at 6 Dirscoll Court before midnight. There was no damage.