09/06/08 — SUMMIT TOWNSHIP — A fire so small that it put itself out before it was noticed by anyone has Summit Township’s volunteer firefighters worried. So worried, in fact, that they’re offering a reward for information.

“This is a warning flag for me,” Peter Albaugh, who serves as Summit Township’s assistant fire chief and also the department’s fire marshal, said Friday.

The fire burned part of the surface of a bench in the dugout of a ballfield on the grounds of the former Summit Elementary School. The property is owned by Conneaut School District, which continues to use the building for storage and leases the surrounding property to Summit Township for public use.

Albaugh got a call alerting him to the dugout fire Tuesday from a neighborhood resident who had been walking a dog in the vicinity. Having talked to several nearby residents, he believes the fire was set sometime during the past week.

The warning flag came in the form of three words: “Free Nick Pope” was written on the dugout wall above the singed bench.

Hartstown resident Nickolas Dean Pope pleaded guilty on Aug. 29 in Crawford County Court of Common Pleas to three second-degree felony counts, two for arson endangering property and one for criminal trespass, in connection with two fires.

The first of the fires Pope, who was 19 years old at the time, confessed to setting destroyed the 160-year-old Harmonsburg Presbyterian Church on Jan. 13. On Feb. 1, the second fire destroyed Dreamland Ballroom on the grounds of Conneaut Lake Park.

The maximum sentence for each of the three counts is 25 years in prison and a $10,000 fine; sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 7.

During his April arraignment, Pope admitted he was out “to cause mischief” when a left a party and ended up causing an estimated $180,000 in damage to the historic church. At the same time, it was made apparent that the $1.5 million Dreamland Ballroom blaze was probably little more than an act of aimless boredom.

“You can stand in the dugout and look over to where the church used to stand,” Albaugh said.

The firefighter was quick to point out that “Free Nick Pope” wasn’t the only message written on the walls of the dugout. In fact, a number of messages targeting specific minority groups that could definitely be described as “hate-related” have also been written on the walls. “It’s just covered,” Albaugh said. “It’s definitely inappropriate. But if you tie this small fire to someone thinking this Pope guy should be out — I have a problem with that.”

Friday, Albaugh and Meadville Tribune photographer Jim Stefanucci discovered the same phrase written several times on a nearby shelter.

Albaugh stressed he doesn’t see this as a case of “innocent acting-out.”

“Whoever did this needs help,” he said. “This is not appropriate.”

According to Albaugh, the dugout incident is under investigation by a Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal and an investigator with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Control has been contacted.

However, local firefighters don’t want to wait until something else happens before enlisting the public’s help.

During a Thursday-night meeting, Summit Township firefighters agreed to offer a reward through Crawford County Crimestoppers for information leading to an arrest in connection with the dugout incident. Anyone with information is asked to call Crawford County Crimestoppers at 333-1111.

“This is a place where young people come to congregate,” Albaugh said. “You have people of all ages using this area — some of them inappropriately. I think the suspect would be someone using the area.”

Township officials were not available for comment, but Albaugh said the township will be cleaning up the site as soon as the investigation is complete.

Jody Sperry, president of Conneaut School Board, said the district had been notified that the dugout fire had taken place — and also that beer-bottle-filled garbage can had been found nearby.

“I’m just saddened that there’s nothing in all of Crawford County that our youth could find that they feel is productive for them to do,” Sperry said Friday. “It’s too bad that they can’t find anything else to do beside defacing public property.”



YOU CAN HELP

Anyone with information about the recent damage caused to the dugout on the grounds of the former Summit Elementary School is asked to call Crawford County Crimestoppers at 333-1111. A reward is being offered to anyone supplying information leading to an arrest.