1982 Boston arson spree

In 1980, Proposition 2½ was approved, coming into effect in July, 1981. The proposition required that "property tax revenues not exceed 2.5 percent of a community's assessed value and that a community's property tax revenue not grow by more than 2.5 percent a year." == Arson wave ==

In December, 1981, 40 fires were set in dumpsters in lanes and alleyways in South Boston and other neighborhoods. These fires failed to attract much attention, so the conspirators decided to start setting fire to residential and commercial buildings. A wave of fires began on June 11, 1982, with firefighters responding to 30 alarms that Friday. Over the following weekend, 101 alarms were sounded over a period of 12 hours. Subsequent fires began on either late Thursday or early Friday in the weeks of June 25, July 2 and July 16 that year. The fires mostly struck vacant or abandoned buildings and the BFD had to rely on the assistance provided by 11 of the surrounding communities to cover their stations while they combatted the fires in the week of July 16. The special arson watch consisted of rotating patrols of ATF agents and arson investigators watching designated areas. The note also stated "If abandoned buildings are torn down, occupied buildings will be targeted." He was later confined to a state hospital for psychiatric observation. On August 21, four fires occurred, all of which were deemed to be suspicious. Again, these fires broke from the norm, occurring on a Saturday. The fires that occurred that day caused approximately $100,000 in damages. On August 26, Robert J. Stanley and John V. Ostiguy were arrested for arson, with then-Fire Commissioner George Paul stating that these were the first successes in the investigations targeting Boston's arson problems. Stanley was charged with setting a café on fire in Jamaica Plain, then attempting to set the home of the café's owner on fire approximately 90 minutes later. Ostiguy was charged for attempting to set a building on fire, after which he set a "garbage container" alight. By this point, the arson wave had caused approximately $4.5 million in damages. Of the 139 "incendiary or suspicious" fires reported since early June, 98 occurred in vacant buildings. During the fire, a group of firefighters attempted to cut a hole in the roof to vent the fire. The roof collapsed shortly after, leaving no time for anyone to escape from it, causing multiple firefighters to fall into the fire 40 feet below. One of those firefighters was Manny Gregorio, who had another firefighter, Raymond Martin, fall on top of him. The fire burned Gregorio's legs and back and he fractured two vertebrae, while Martin broke several of his ribs and suffered a collapsed lung and internal bleeding. The pair were rescued after 20 minutes and both were left permanently partially paralyzed, being restricted to light duties. The headquarters of the Sparks Association, an organisation of fire buffs interested in firefighting techniques and the history of fire departments was also targeted at some point. == Groblewski arrest and indictment ==

The first major development in the case occurred in November 21, 1982, when a news crew from WBZ-TV captured a man waving a gun in an attempt to disperse a crowd at a fire at the Gerrity Lumber Company. WBZ-TV aired the footage, and soon after the ATF identified the man as Robert Groblewski, a former police officer with the BPD who was working as a security guard at the time. Then agent Wayne Miller interviewed Groblewski at his home, where Miller noticed a Boston fire alarm box. Groblewski stated that he had bought it at a flea market, however upon checking the identification number it was discovered that it had been stolen. between 1982 and 1983. • Sergeant Gregory Bemis, Boston Housing Authority Police Department – Conspiracy, arson, obstruction of justice and mailing threatening communications • Lieutenant Wayne Sanden, Boston Housing Authority Police Department – Conspiracy, arson and obstruction of justice • Airman 1st Class Leonard Kendall Jr., United States Air Force firefighter – Conspiracy, arson and perjury • Ray Norton Jr., BFD firefighter – Conspiracy, perjury and aiding and abetting arson • Joseph Gorman – Conspiracy and aiding and abetting arson • Christopher Damon – Conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice and aiding and abetting • Donald Stackpole – Conspiracy, arson and obstruction of justice Bemis, Sanden and Stackpole were ordered to be held without bail for allegedly threatening the life of a federal agent in charge of the investigation. Norton's trial was scheduled for January 14, 1985. On December 17, 1984, Kendall pleaded guilty to perjury and was sentenced in January 1985. Bemis, Sanden and Gorman pleaded guilty to arson and conspiracy charges and were sentenced to federal imprisonment, with the four being sentenced to a range of between five and 40 years in prison. Motive Then Boston Fire Commissioner Leo Stapleton called into question the group's motives, stating that "We had 257 men laid off. None of them set a fire. None of them considered doing that." Stapleton also stated that many of the fires occurred after the state legislature had voted in June 1982 to pass a law known as the Tregor Bill, which allocated funds to allow those laid off to return to their jobs. Other members of the BFD concurred, stating that the conspirators frequently chased fire apparatus to fires even before Proposition 2½ came into effect. When asked during his trial whether he liked the publicity the fires gained, Bemis said "That was our main motive, was publicity." When asked whether he enjoyed the idea of the power the fires held over the city, he said "Yes, we did." However, when asked at the trial of Stackpole whether he believed they weren't having any impact, Bemis stated "No, that's not correct. We were, I believe, the sole responsibility that the Tregor Bill did pass." When asked whether he was proud of himself, he stated that he was not. == Aftermath ==

Between 163 and 260 fires were set by the group, causing an estimated total of between $20–50 million in damages, the most costly of which was a fire at the Spero Toy Company in South Boston on June 3, 1982, which caused an estimated $13.5 million in damages. The fires injured between 270 and 282 people, 31 of which occurred at the Spero Toy Company fire and at least 65 of which were firefighters, some of which were left with permanent disabilities. At the time, US Attorney William Weld called the arson spree "the largest arson case in history, both state and federally; in terms of the number of fires." Stackpole was released from prison at an unknown time and died in 2012. According to Miller, Bemis was never angry for being arrested, stating that he "used to send us Christmas cards." Miller later wrote a book called Burn Boston Burn about his experiences working the case, on which he received help from Bemis. Bemis apparently wrote a 166 page treatise written on a typewriter, which Miller "drew upon heavily" when writing the book. Bemis also provided the photograph on the front cover of the book to Miller, which was taken at the American Cellophane and Plastic Films Corporation fire in Jamaica Plain in June, 1982. ==References==