Two structure fires occurring within an hour of each other, along with a truck being set ablaze in the same week, isn’t just a coincidence, according to Pembroke officials.

Lt. Peter Waters with the Pembroke Fire Department said two structure fires were set June 11 by an unknown arsonist in Pembroke. The department responded around 10 p.m. that day to a structure fire on Warnell Avenue and then to another one around 11 p.m. on Georgia Avenue.

“We were still out on Warnell putting out the hot spots and such when we got a call about the fire on Georgia,” Waters said. “We had to break from the fire on Warnell and send people to another truck for the one on Georgia.”

Additionally, a truck was set on fire around 1 a.m. June 9 on Park Avenue in Pembroke.

Waters said the department did not suspect arson until the two structure fires happened two days later. The two houses and the vehicle are all in the same neighborhood and only a few blocks apart.

“With it being vacant houses and no electricity going to it, it’s pretty much a given that it was set,” Waters said. “If you have no power, nothing else would set two houses about a block apart on fire within an hour of each other.”

Read more in the June 18 edition of the News.