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Brandon Kiser, 17, and his grandmother, Connie Kiser, 60, grimly access damage to her garage at 160 East Center St.
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Arson fires fray nerves in Fostoria

Arson fires fray nerves in Fostoria

FOSTORIA - The first two fires next door to Connie Kiser's home were small.

"The third fire, we started to get a little bit antsy," said Mrs. Kiser, a 60-year-old widow whose neighborhood is known for drug activity. "The fourth fire we really got antsy."

Yesterday, when the number of suspected arson fires had reached nine - including two fires at Mrs. Kiser's daughter's home blocks away - she was using the word insane to describe the past month.

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"It seems like they're following me, and it's mind-boggling," said Mrs. Kiser, a former factory employee and lifelong resident of this city where Wood, Seneca, and Hancock counties meet.

The first four fires, starting June 11, were at 162 East Center St., where a retired woman lived alone in a downstairs apartment she rented.

Then Mrs. Kiser's garage at 160 East Center St. was hit. That fire was followed by a damaging blaze at her next-door neighbor's on the other side at 156 East Center St., which is owned by Robin Peltier, a beautician who owns the Hair Shack Salon in Fostoria.

Next, the back door of Mrs. Kiser's brick home, which she shares with her 17-year-old grandson Brandon Kiser, appeared to have been lit with a tiki torch.

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The home Mrs. Kiser's daughter, Leilani Kiser, shares with her ex-husband, Kevin

Jones, and her 7-year-old daughter, Megan Brown, was hit the next two days, the Kisers said.

Sunday evening there was a small fire in their shed at 303 East Eagle St.

Monday evening the Kisers found a tarp covering bicycles in the back of the house on fire. Both fires broke out while Mrs. Kiser was at her daughter's home.

"It's a nightmare," Leilani Kiser said. "Nobody sleeps at night."

Authorities questioned Leilani Kiser and Kevin Jones' son Brandon - much to the Kisers' annoyance - and gave him a lie detector test, which he passed, Mrs. Kiser said.

Fostoria Police Sgt. Steve Brown declined to confirm that, citing the ongoing investigation.

He said the department has some suspects and has not made any arrests.

It's not uncommon for police to be called to East Center Street for various disturbances, Sergeant Brown said. And like Mrs. Kiser, he's heard the alley behind her garage called "Crack Alley" in reference to crack cocaine.

"It's been pretty bad lately," he said of what he described as off-and-on illegal drug activity in the area over more than a decade.

The string of arson fires, however, is unusual for Fostoria.

Sergeant Brown said he could not recall a similar number of related fires in his 23 years with the police department.

Local authorities and the state fire marshal's office this week asked citizens for help in solving the arson fires, which they believe are related.

The Ohio Blue Ribbon Arson committee is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification of the person or persons who set the fires.

"We're going nonstop to get this taken care of," Fostoria Fire Chief Russ Rife said yesterday. "We're hoping that we hear something from a citizen that will help us solve this case."

Contact Jane Schmucker at:

jschmucker@theblade.com

or 419-724-6102.

First Published July 14, 2004, 12:06 p.m.

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Brandon Kiser, 17, and his grandmother, Connie Kiser, 60, grimly access damage to her garage at 160 East Center St.
The porch is taped off at 1621/2 East Center St., which has been set on fire four times.
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