http://www.our-home.org/williamlazarony William Lazarony is a Scientologist. Additionally, the townhouses in question were meant to house Scientologists coming to Clearwater for training. Could it be that the buzz is that Super Power isn't going to get too many takers?

This fire is also interesting because there is another arsonist around--and what is more to the point, Scientology has been attempting recently to frame people for arson. It's possible (if not probable) that this is connected somehow.

It would be nice if someone could look into whether this property was overinsured (it would be hard to tell exactly how much had actually been put into construction) or whether there's anything else suspicious about this (besides the obvious).

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Fire at townhome construction site declared arson The developer vows to rebuild quickly. The downtown Clearwater units were expected to open by summer. By ROBERT FARLEY, Times Staff Writer © St. Petersburg Times published May 3, 2002

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CLEARWATER -- Arson was the cause of a Wednesday night fire that caused more than $1-million in damage to a building of nine luxury townhouses under construction in Clearwater, investigators said Thursday.

That determination came after a team of county and city fire investigators, as well as an accelerant-sniffing dog, spent the day sifting through the fire damage. Investigators would not discuss how they reached their conclusion.

The fire deals a serious setback to the highly anticipated project to bring the downtown its first townhouse complex.

"It is enormously disappointing," said William Lazarony, a Clearwater developer who has been working on the project with Jaren Levitt of Sarasota. Especially, he said, because the project was so close to completion. But he vows to rebuild as quickly as possible.

The Laura Street Townhomes project consists of two buildings, each with nine townhouses. The three-story buildings east of Myrtle Avenue and north of Cleveland Street are advertised for sale for about $200,000 each. A passing motorist spotted fire in the west building just after 9 p.m. and used his cellular phone to call 9-1-1.

"We could see the fire from the fire station two blocks away," said Assistant Clearwater Fire Chief Charlie Flowers.

In all, 55 firefighters were called to the scene. Because the building is so large, and because the fire spread so quickly, Flowers said, firefighters threw massive amounts of water on the fire -- about 135,000 gallons in a half hour.

Wednesday had been a day of small celebration for developers, Lazarony said. That afternoon an inspector gave the okay to the building's new plywood roof. Scaffolding was being erected to begin attaching stucco.

The fire decimated the building, leaving the wooden structure of the third floor looking like a blackened tiara atop the concrete block structure of the first two floors.

"Right now, it looks god-awful to me," Lazarony said.

Lazarony takes solace that at least the east building escaped the fire unscathed. Living up to a banner out front that promises buyers can move in this summer may be difficult now, Lazarony said, but it may still be possible.

Seven of the 18 townhouses, including five of the nine in the building that burned, are under contract.

A team of investigators from the state Fire Marshal's Office, the Clearwater police and fire departments and members of a countywide fire task force surveyed the damage Thursday looking for clues.

"They (investigators) found indication this was intentionally set," said Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor. "We are not in a position to elaborate on that."

Dave Kessinger, assistant chief for prevention for the Clearwater Fire Department, said the fire was deemed suspicious early on.

"We are looking at a building under construction that does not have electrical power," Kessinger said. "Also, it was a pretty fast fire."

Lazarony said he has no idea what or who may have caused the fire.

The buildings are always kept clean, he said, and construction crews leave by 4:30 p.m.

"I haven't a clue," Lazarony said. "I'm aware of no big grudges out there. I don't know anyone who would do something like this. But obviously, it is suspicious."

From: Jeff Jacobsen <cultxpt@primenet.com>
Subject: Re: Scientology townhouse project in arson fire
Date: Fri, 03 May 2002 20:16:17 -0700
Message-ID: <mjk6duc38ggelne656p1hrkiep6fj2n6aa@4ax.com>

On Fri, 03 May 2002 19:53:08 -0400, ptsc <ptsc AT nym DOT cryptofortress DOT com> wrote:

>http://www.our-home.org/williamlazarony William Lazarony
>is a Scientologist. Additionally, the townhouses in question were
>meant to house Scientologists coming to Clearwater for training.
>Could it be that the buzz is that Super Power isn't going to get
>too many takers?

http://www.primenet.com/~cultxpt/fires.htm

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