The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety is investigating whether five overnight fires on the city's northeast side Friday night into early Saturday morning were intentionally set, according to a KDPS news release.
WATCH: Multiple overnight fires investigated in Kalamazoo
One of those fires happened on Oxford Street, where a porta-potty was set ablaze.
For neighbor Amanda Courtney, seeing the portable toilet engulfed in flames was an unsettling sight.
“How often do you see a porta potty on fire?” Courtney asked.
The Kalamazoo neighbor was leaving her home Friday night when she noticed something burning just two doors down.
“I’m like, what is this glow by the street?” Courtney said. “The porta potty, the whole front of it was engulfed in flames and melted.”
Courtney said the fire is the latest in a series of incidents she has noticed in her neighborhood.
“As long as I’ve lived here I’ve never even had a single trick or treater at my house," Courtney said, "It’s been really quiet, but lately there’s been a lot of cars broken into, vandalism,” she said.
During a 6-hour period, KDPS responded to:
-A trash can fire along the 700 block of N. Burdick at 9:30 p.m.,
-A porta-potty fire on the 2200 block of Oxford at 10:40 p.m.,
-A foliage fire near S. Riverview and E. Paterson St. at 10:50 p.m.,
-A vehicle fire along the 2700 block of Cimarron Dr. at about 2 a.m., and
-A trash can on fire along the 2900 block of Cimarron Dr.
The fires were put out quickly, which limited the damage, KDPS said. No injuries were reported.
The incidents have prompted Courtney to take additional precautions around her home.
“I’m going to be getting cameras,” she said. “You can never be too safe.”
Investigators are now working to determine who started the fires and why.
Anyone with information about the fires is asked to call investigators at (269) 337-8139. Tips can be submitted anonymously to Kalamazoo Silent Observer at (269) 343-2100, or by using the "P3Tips app.
