It appears arson is on the rise in Anchorage.

[Jess]

ANCHORAGE - It appears arson is on the rise in Anchorage.

Anchorage Fire Department Investigator Brian Balega said most of the cases he's seen this year have been intentionally set fires. The most recent arson happened at College Gate Elementary on October 25. Firefighters said it was the second time this year someone set the rubber padding on the playground on fire.

Police arrested a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old boy for the incident, which did more than $30,000 worth of damage to the playground. Each teen is charged with one count of arson in the second degree and criminal mischief in the third degree.

"That's one investigation I can take off my plate and make room for another one. I'm glad the police department was able to step up and take care of that for me," Balega said.

He's still got dozens of cases on his plate, though. He's the only fire investigator in Anchorage and currently has 40 ongoing investigations. Balega said AFD has been called out more than 600 times this year. Balega's come in to investigate 58 of those cases, and 40 turned out to be arson.

He said finding the people responsible for arson can be difficult; unless there's surveillance video or witnesses, there's not a lot to go on.

"A lot of the investigation is based off the scenes and you've seen our scenes. They get destroyed and there's not a lot of evidence left behind. Our job is to search the scene and find that evidence. Once we find it we have to make sense of how it happened," Balega said.

He still needs the public's help to find an arsonist responsible for a trailer fire on Runestad Circle. That happened around 1:30 a.m. September 24. Balega said he just got information ruling it as an arson, and that's why it took so long to release the information.

KTVA.com

someone has a facination with fire.

[shawnmaahs]

i saw this on the news last night i hope they catch this person i dont need my place set on fire. i will be pissed