Norfolk asks for FBI, ATF assistance in Rotunda arsons

NORFOLK

Fire investigators are asking the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for help after five fires they say are the work of a serial arsonist at The Rotunda building downtown.

Residents of the condo building on St. Paul’s Boulevard were evacuated about 8:15 p.m. Wednesday when the fire alarm sounded. Sprinklers helped contain a fire in a storage closet on the fourth floor and another fire in a storage closet on the third floor, Battalion Chief Harry Worley said.

Authorities initially reported only one fire on Wednesday because they had hoped to keep the second one confidential while they investigated, he said. Those fires followed three others, all on the fifth floor, in the past eight days. No one has been seriously injured, but at least one person was treated after inhaling smoke, and water from sprinklers has caused significant damage to the building, Worley said.

No one is allowed to live in the building until its electrical systems can be inspected and a new security plan is put in place, Worley said.

Residents had become afraid even before Wednesday’s fires, said Amy Brown, who has rented a condo in The Rotunda since late 2009.

“You have a lot of single people staying there,” she said.

The fires continued after authorities put focus on the building. Fire officials met with residents Tuesday night to talk about safety. Fire Station No. 1 is almost across the street.

Fire Chief Jeff Wise visited the building about 4 a.m. Wednesday after the third fire to talk to residents. Brown said it appeared that investigators from the fire marshal’s office were at the building most of Wednesday.

Elevators were not working, so everyone was using the stairs, she said. Each owner or renter is given a unique code to get into the building, she said. On Wednesday, residents were told that the codes were being changed.

Then, on Wednesday evening, the alarm went off again. A fire investigator was in the parking lot at the time. Residents, who already were weary of repeated evacuations, were interviewed by investigators and then moved to a church across the street, Brown said.

One tenant who didn’t evacuate was removed from the building, Worley said.

The cylindrical building was once a seven-story office building but was renovated into an eight-story building with 66 condos and penthouses. Tenants began moving in in 2007.

Brown said the building’s safety has been part of its appeal. “People have lived there for years now and love it.”

Patrick Wilson, 757-222-3893, patrick.wilson@pilotonline.com