Brandstiftungsserie in Oberschöneweide: Pyromane hält Feuerwehr und Polizei in Atem

In Berlin, Feuerwehr and Polizei had to deal with a series of arson attacks in the Treptow-Köpenick district. A firebug struck five times consecutively in broad daylight in the Oberschöneweide district. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in these incidents. Witnesses initially noticed smoke and flames coming from the stairwell of a residential building on Lauffener Straße. A stroller and a child’s bicycle were set on fire. While residents managed to extinguish the fire before the authorities arrived, the building’s structure was damaged due to the intense heat.

About an hour later, emergency services were called to a residential building on Firlstraße, where a burning paper container in the courtyard needed to be put out. Shortly after, a paper and a trash can in a backyard on Wilhelminenhofstraße caught fire. Fortunately, an employee of a nearby business managed to extinguish the flames. Later in the same street, a tenant noticed the smell of smoke and found a smoldering flat-screen TV with cardboard remnants in the cellar utility room. Subsequently, a man reported to the police that the cover of his motorcycle, parked at Schillerpromenade/Goethestraße, had been set on fire between Monday at 6 pm and Tuesday at 12 pm. Fortunately, the bike itself remained undamaged.

All five fires were set in a radius of less than 500 meters, indicating that they may be the work of a single perpetrator. The Polizei has launched an investigation into suspected arson in these incidents.