By Owen Boss
Staff Writer
NORTHAMPTON - Though police have a suspect in custody in connection with a series of deadly fires that left city residents gripped in fear, the victims of that night are hungry for more information. Still, they say, they can sleep a little easier knowing the investigation led to an arrest.
At 8 p.m. Monday police arrested Hawley Street resident Anthony P. Baye, 25, on charges of arson, armed burglary and two counts of murder in connection with the fatal fire on Fair Street.
Charles Marchand, of 52 Highland Ave., who awoke to his apartment filling with smoke Dec. 27 and found that someone had set a small bag on fire on his front porch, said he isn't entirely convinced all the fires could have been set by just one person.
"It is good to know that they caught somebody and the police are doing their job, that's for sure," Marchand said. "But I'm still not convinced that this person acted alone."
Marchand, who had to leave his house that night, said he thought that given the steady rain and slippery conditions it would have been difficult for one man to cover the distance required to set all the fires.
"I went out to my car after our porch was lit and we saw a fire on the other side of the street, and after a while we walked by another fire, and a short time later we saw another house blazing, and it was like being in a war zone," Marchand said.
Also looking for more information is Stacia Potter, who lives in an apartment on Northern Avenue with her husband and 18-month-old son Rhyse. She fled her home the night of the fires after looking out her window and seeing her neighbor's garage and the two vehicles inside engulfed in flames.
"This is going to give us a tentative sigh of relief, because we don't know the story yet and we don't know the details," Potter said. "I want the details to be there in the courtroom, and I want it to happen perfectly because it has to happen just right in order for there to be a sense of relief and a sense of justice."
Although she admitted that she will sleep better knowing that the police have made an arrest, Potter said she and her family are waiting to see if other arrests are made. "One of our reactions to the arrest was 'Only one person?,'" Potter said, "We are definitely intrigued to see if this is going to be the beginning of a series of arrests."
Another resident who awoke to a fire that night was Tim Schwaber, who looked out his window on Franklin Street to find his car and his girlfriend Misti Adams' car burning in their driveway.
"I'm pretty stoked about it because I wasn't sure that they would find anybody," Schwaber said. "I'm impressed that they found somebody so quickly."
Word of the arrest Tuesday morning brought tears to the eyes of Patricia Trant, of 42 Fruit St., who has been sleeping on a couch on the first floor of her home she shares with her husband and elderly parents ever since she awoke to find her husband's Volvo burning in their driveway.
"I was paranoid even starting to work at night and putting my lights on. It was just making me crazy," Trant said. "You really feel unnecessarily targeted by some individual who maybe you didn't smile at the right way."
Trant, who said she and her husband are working on replacing the family's destroyed car, went back into her house for some much-needed rest.
"I haven't been sleeping lately," Trant said with a smile.
"I'm going inside to go take a nap."
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.
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