Police in Camden believe that two boys, one possibly as young as 12, could be responsible for at least a half dozen arson fires in the city since Friday.
The boys could be responsible for setting the blazes in trash cans, under cars and on a duplex porch.
A pair of siblings spotted a chair on fire next to their grandmother's East Camden duplex Sunday morning around 4:30 a.m. and sprang into action.
“…I grabbed it, dragged it over to the side, went behind it and kicked it off the steps,” said Chris Jean. "It was just automatic reaction... get the fire off the porch, put the fire out."
Jean tried to run chase down the boys down after his sister Marissa Franqui saw them take off from the neighborhood but he wasn’t able to keep up only finding another fire -- this time a trash can blaze -- around the corner on 24th Street.
On Friday, between 2 and 3:30 a.m., the boys set trash and/or paper on fire under four cars, according to police.
There were no reports of injuries from any of the fires.
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Camden Police released these descriptions of the suspected arsonist:
The younger suspect is described as a thin-built, medium-complexioned Hispanic male, 12 to 13 years old, standing 4-foot-6 to 4-foot-7, who has a distinctively-shaped bell pepper shaped nose and a high-pitch voice. He was wearing a brown hoodie, black pants and white sneakers.
The older suspect is described as a thin-built, light-complexioned Hispanic male, 17 to 20 years old, standing 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-8 tall with a small fro-style haircut who was wearing black pants, a black hoodie and white sneakers.
On Tuesday, the hunt for the boys continued as another fire, who firefighters believe wasn’t likely connected, was discovered around 12:50 p.m. at the soon-to-be-demolished Sears Building on Admiral Wilson Boulevard.
Firefighters say it took about 30 minutes to contain the Sears Building fire.
The investigations into all the arson fires continue. Anyone with information is asked to call the Camden City Police Department at 856-757-7042.
