String of Fires Possibly Related to Copper Theft

Copper theft is fairly common problem in Alabama.

 

“In today’s market, if it’s bare copper, we’d be looking at somewhere around two dollars a pound.”

 

Tommy Fleming owns Capital Recycling on Mobile Highway in Montgomery. He says while stealing copper probably won’t make you rich, desperate people resort to it.

 

“People get hooked on drugs and different things like that. And that’s why, a lot of what you see is people down on their luck and looking for a quick buck.”

 

Montgomery Fire Officials say two house fires were intentionally set Tuesday morning. One in the 900 block of Grove Street. The other in the 1100 block of Hutchinson Street. Both fires happened around 9am…at vacant homes, just one block away from each other. 

 

“It appears right now that some of the houses that we’ve been going into are copper thieves and for some reason or another, they’re setting them on fire before they leave out,” says Montgomery Fire Arson Division Captain R.C. Wood. 

 

Wood  says firemen have responded to several other fires in the same area. The motive may be copper. 

 

 

Stealing copper comes with risks however, which include burns, possible electrocution…even death. Although it’s still happening, Fleming says a state law passed in 2012, curbed copper theft quite a bit. 

 

“The law made it where we also get drivers licenses, tag numbers, take pictures of it, take pictures of the individual when they’re receiving their money,” Fleming says. “You have to have a signature. Also, anything over 500 dollars in copper or lead items has to be in the form of a check.”

 

Both fires are still under investigation.