By Gene Warner and Dan Herbeck
The Buffalo News
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Two emergency medical technicians were arrested Friday and accused of torching two vacant buildings in Buffalo. Investigators believe the arsonists may have alerted neighbors to the fires to look more heroic.
Jonathan R. Safe, 20, of Iris Avenue, Buffalo, and Lyndsey Sgro, 21, of Edgebrook Estates, Cheektowaga, were charged with arson, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and burglary, according to city arrest reports.
Both of the accused arsonists are EMTs with the Rural/Metro Medical Services ambulance company, and several sources said both were on duty the nights of the two East Side fires.
Safe also is listed as a volunteer firefighter with the Vigilant Fire Department in West Seneca.
“We are investigating whether the suspects not only set fires but alerted others to make themselves look heroic,” Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III said Friday.
Erie County Assistant District Attorney Lauren A. Rott called it “disturbing” that one of the accused also is a volunteer firefighter in West Seneca.
“Firefighters hold so much respect and are held in awe because of their heroism, their sacrifices and their bravery,” Sedita said. “So it becomes doubly disturbing when a firefighter is accused of setting fires and then trying to look like a hero by warning others.”
Safe and Sgro are accused of setting two fires last month, one to a vacant seven-story apartment building on Glenny Drive at about 11:30 p.m. on May 3, and the other to a vacant house on Howard Street at about 4:15 a.m. on May 12.
In each case, police say Safe and Sgro set the fire by igniting combustibles with a lighter.
Police reports say fires were set in two separate rooms in the Glenny Drive building, where fire officials reported $500 damage. Following the other blaze, fire officials listed $40,000 damage to the vacant Howard Street house.
Investigators insisted that there’s no evidence that these were arsons for hire.
Both EMTs were on duty the nights of the fires, sources said, explaining that EMTs often ride around at night or park in certain locations waiting for calls.
Investigators also are investigating whether the two accused could have been involved in other fires. Authorities have found several other fires in vacant buildings while the two EMTs were on duty.
A search warrant was executed Friday at the ambulance company’s offices on William L. Gaiter Parkway in Buffalo, and investigators from the Buffalo Fire Marshals office were seen taking at least two computers out of the building.
Jay Smith, spokesman for Rural/Metro, issued a brief statement, saying the company is cooperating fully with investigators in the case.
“Once we know the extent [of the situation], we will take appropriate action,” Smith said.
He added that the company has notified Teamsters Local 375, which represents workers at the medical services company, of the investigation.
“Rural/Metro Medical Services reminds us that this is not indicative of the 550 dedicated employees who serve the community and the City of Buffalo every day,” Smith said.
The two Rural/Metro employees have been under investigation since early last month, authorities said.
The arrests come two weeks after a Rural/Metro ambulance driver in Niagara County, Anthony L. Murphy, 29, was fired after allegedly stealing money from the injured victims of two automobile crashes.
The arson case has no connection to Murphy’s situation, sources said.