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Arson hits third porn store
Harford County -
Arson has caused blazes at three Harford County porn shops in the past 10 months. Authorities say they have established no links among the three fires, the latest of which destroyed a Fallston porn shop and slightly injured a firefighter early Tuesday. Firefighters responded to a call for the Tuesday fire at Express Videos on the 2100 block of Belair Road at 12:45 a.m., said Derek Chapman, deputy state fire marshal. Chapman said the fire is being investigated as arson, but did not provide specifics. “We have one lead we are looking into now,” he said, without elaborating. The damage to the store, which has three employees, closed at midnight, and nobody was inside at the time of the fire, Chapman said. Units from the Fallston, Bel Air, Kingsville, Joppa, Jarrettsville and Level fire departments responded. Fires had been set on the front porch and the outside rear portion of the one-story, wood-frame store, the fire marshal's office said. Bryan W. Baker, of the Bel Air Fire Department, suffered minor injuries to his shoulder, Chapman said. Baker was treated and released at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air. It took 45 firefighters 35 minutes to put out Tuesday’s blaze, Chapman said. The store and its contents were valued at $400,000 in damage, Chapman said. He said the store's owner, George Dial, has been notified and is cooperating with investigators. The other two porn store arsons happened July in Aberdeen and January in Havre de Grace, according to fire officials. The July 1 fire, reported around 1:30 a.m., damaged American Novelty Corp. near Oakington Road on the 2200 block of Pulaski Highway. And a January fire burned a Havre de Grace porn shop. vdickson@baltimoreexaminer.com msilvestri@baltimoreexaminer.com |