2 cases of suspected arson at Chesapeake Arboretum under investigation
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — Chesapeake fire marshals are investigating two cases of suspected arson at one of the city’s beloved parks. Firefighters were called to the Chesapeake Arboretum twice within two weeks for trees and greenery on fire.
“The flames were all the way climbing toward the top,” said neighbor, Chelsea Cannaday, as she recalled the large fire.
Cannaday lives near the arboretum and says about two weeks ago on April 15, she was sitting inside with her kids and saw her neighbors start running toward the tree line behind her house.
“I thought maybe one of his dogs had run away, then I saw my neighbor, Vicki, run after him. And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s strange.’ And then my husband was out back grilling and he ran with them. And I looked back here and the woods were just filled with white smoke,” Cannaday said.
She says they ran in to find large trees and the ground beneath them completely on fire.
Chelsea and another neighbor called 911 and a few minutes later, the fire department arrived on scene. Her husband and several neighbors started using buckets of water from the pond to help douse the flames until the fire department arrived.
“There were five or six people back here with buckets and they had it out before the fire department even got here, which was pretty impressive when you see the scope of it,” said Cannaday. “The fire marshal later named us the bucket brigade and he said, you know, it was great to see neighbors kind of teaming up to handle a situation like that.”
The fire department told homeowners they think the fire was intentionally set, and believed it could’ve gotten out of control very quickly had they not stepped in.
“The marshal said that if it had burned for five more minutes, it would have gotten really out of control,” Cannaday said. “If it would have caught the canopy then it would have been a really bad day for the arboretum and all the houses surrounding.”
Cannaday says they thought it was a one time thing, until a second fire was set about two weeks later, on Friday April 26. The second fire didn’t do as much damage as the first, but did burn the bottoms of several benches.
“It’s just, you know, devastating that someone’s trying to harm such a beautiful, peaceful place in our community,” Cannaday said.
The Chesapeake Arboretum sits on 43 acres filled with about three and a half miles of trails that guide you through a number of native trees. Chesapeake Parks Landscape Designer Lauren Ragsac says some paw paw trees were damaged in the first larger fire.
“They’re actually the largest fruit producing native tree that we have on the Eastern Seaboard,” said Ragsac.
Ragsac says they plan to replant the area with native species, but it will take time to grow back to look like it did before.
“It’s very disconcerting to park staff and I think to definitely to some of the residents here who use those trails every day,” Ragsac said.
Ragsac said some of trees and species in the arboretum are very rare, so it’s important to have respect for the environment by cleaning up trash and not causing any damage, like starting fires.
“If that had reached Stewartia Cove, that would have been really devastating, or it had reached Camellia Cove, that would have been equally devastating,” Ragsac said. “That is one of just three locations in Virginia that are on the National Camellia Tour.”
She says this is one of the city’s most popular parks.
“We have all sorts of things going on here, this is considered a real gem by many people in Chesapeake,” Ragsac said. “A lot of people love to walk their dogs on the trails. The trails are wide and very well maintained. Birders go there for birding and kids do cross-country running back there.”
Cannaday agrees that it’s a true gem to the area.
“People come back here to walk their dogs, to ride bikes, to play with their kids and explore and enjoy nature and it’s just not a place where you expect crime to be occurring,” Cannaday said. “But I think as a community we can all look out for each other and hopefully keep it a safe place that everyone can enjoy.”
Both fires happened in the late afternoon between 3 and 5 o’clock on weekdays.
Chesapeake Fire has posted signs around the arboretum in hopes that someone saw something that can help them solve this case.
If you saw anything that can help, call the Crime Line at 1-888-Lock-U-UP or submit a tip using the P-3 Tips App. You can also call the Fire Marshal’s Office at 757-382-6566.
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