NATION/WORLD
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, November 15, 1995
11A
Firefighters caught setting blazes
The Associated Press
ARKWRIGHT, S.C. — There was something that bothered Vincent Sherbert about five of his fellow firefighters.
"Sometimes when we'd get an alarm at midnight, they would be at the station," Sherbert, now the department's chief, said. And that was unusual for men who lived as much as 20 minutes away.
Those five firefighters now are charged with setting an undetermined number of about 150 suspicious fires that scarred the community, where about 670 people live on or near two half-mile, potholed rural roads.
The arson was believed to be motivated by a desire to practice fighting fires, said Hugh Munn, a spokesman for the State Law Enforcement Division.
But the town isn't exactly up in
arms. The fires from 1991 to 1993 affected only vacant buildings or land and caused no injuries. In fact, there is almost a sense of relief that some of the rundown buildings are gone. Residents said the buildings attracted drug users from the surrounding rural area near Spartanburg.
The suspects are free on ball. Efforts to find their telephone numbers or lawyers for comment were unsuccessful.
"They were eyesores," said Chad Lister, who owns a produce market, one of the few businesses in a nostoplight town built around a cotton fabric mill. "If I was on the jury, I wouldn't convict them."
The five firefighters — two of them former chiefs and one a former captain — have left the Arkwright Volunteer Fire Department. Also charged is a member of the three-member board that oversees
the 17-member department.
The State Law Enforcement Division, which brought the criminal charges last month, said more people may be charged.
"We would fight fire with these guys, and they acted like they didn't even know we were there." he said.
There were at least 40 arrests of firefighters for arson in South Carolina last year. In law enforcement, firefighters gone bad are known as strikers.
Sherbert, a 15-year veteran of the department, recalled how the suspects often seemed to work on their own.
"This is not an uncommon thing across the country," said Sharon Cooper, executive director of the South Carolina Insurance News Service. "Sometimes there is a tendency ... that they get the bug to set one so they can go ahead and put it out."
Bomb shattered sense of security
Three groups claim responsibility for blast that killed seven in Riyadh
The Associated Press
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — For thousands of Americans living in Saudi Arabia, the kingdom seemed one of the few safe havens in the Middle East, a region plagued by terrorism.
That sense of security vanished Monday when a bomb destroyed a U.S.-run military training facility, killing five Americans and a Filipino and injuring 60.
A seventh person died yesterday from injuries suffered in the bombing, said U.S. Defense Department representative Lt. Cmdr. Scott Campbell. The victim was not American, and further details were not known.
Some of the wounded remained in critical condition.
"We were shocked because someone we know was in that building
and was badly injured," said Lee Crowley, a banker from New York who has lived in Riyadh for six years.
Crowley said his close friend had undergone four hours of surgery and had required more than 100 stitches. "You can imagine how badly she was hurt," he said.
A dozen American investigators in red helmets and boots joined hundreds of Saudi Arabian colleagues yesterday in lifting tangled metal, smashed concrete and other debris left by the bomb. Security men cordoned off the streets, and tractors removed huge piles of rubble.
The blast occurred outside the modern, three-story building that was the headquarters for a U.S. Army program that provides American military and civilian advisers to the Saudi national guard.
Despite three claims of responsibility, it still was not clear who carried out the attack. It was not known whether it was an isolated incident or part of a wider campaign against the ruling Saud family and the Americans who work for them.
While many mysteries remain, one thing is clear — the building was extremely vulnerable by Middle East standards.
Many buildings used by the U.S. government and the military in the region are notable for their fortress walls and elaborate security. But the perpetrators of Monday's attack apparently were able to place a powerful bomb on the street next to the building where about 200 Americans were working.
U. S. Ambassador Raymond Mabus said the explosion had been caused by a bomb. Other U.S. officials have said that preliminary evidence suggested it was a car bomb.
U. S. officials have not discussed security at the site, but the embassy urged Americans to be extremely cautious and vigilant.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has been a close ally of the United States for decades. Tens of thousands of U.S. citizens have worked in the kingdom, and Americans played a prominent role in developing the country's oil industry.
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