A suspect is in custody after a spate of fires involving dumpsters, trash cans and a garage in a Northwest D.C. neighborhood.
D.C. police said Devoy Howard, 41, was arrested on arson charges after he was accused of setting a detached garage, parts of a wooden fence and two trash cans on fire in D.C.’s Chevy Chase neighborhood around midnight Thursday.
Scenes captured by WTOP’s Dave Dildine showed flames leaping from dumpsters and towering over an alley in the area of Morrison and Livingston streets:
Multiple fires in an alley between Morrison St and Livingston St pic.twitter.com/b83EFcw3sp
— Dave Dildine (@DildineWTOP) June 30, 2022
According to a police report, Howard was detained just after midnight Thursday in an alleyway behind 5510 Connecticut Ave., where fire crews doused burning dumpsters.
Firefighters assisted law enforcement officers in identifying Howard as a suspect based on footage they obtained of the fires being set.
All fires were extinguished without incident. There were no injuries.
D.C. Fire and EMS crews said they have responded to eight fires in the same area of Chevy Chase since last weekend:
- June 24: Dumpster fire on the 5400 block of Connecticut Avenue NW at 6:12 a.m.
- June 25: Trash can fire on the 3800 block of Legation Street NW at 6:49 a.m.
- June 27: Five separate trash can fires on the 3800 block of Legation Street NW at 7:45 a.m.
- June 30: Garage fire on the 3800 block of Morrison Street NW at 12:06 a.m.
Anyone with information is asked to contact fire investigators at 202-673-2776.
