Brooklyn Arsonist Started 5 Fires Outside NYCHA Apartments: FDNY

EAST NEW YORK, BROOKLYN — A Brooklyn man who trapped public housing tenants inside their apartments by setting fires outside their doors has been arrested, FDNY officials announced Wednesday.

Michael F. Hall, 31, deliberately started five fires outside apartment doors at two buildings in East New York's Louis Heaton Pink Houses, four of which were just in the last few weeks, officials said. He faces attempted murder, arson, weapons, assault, menacing and harassment charges, FDNY said.

“Arson is a violent crime that demonstrates a depraved indifference to the lives of New Yorkers and FDNY members,” FDNY Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro said. “Once again, the investigative work of our Fire Marshals has led to the apprehension of a dangerous individual who used fire as a weapon to harm others.”

Fire officials said Hall set fires in the early morning hours at the front doors of the apartments, blocking the escape of residents and access of firefighters who responded to the blazes.

Four people were hurt by the the five fires, one of which Hall set at a 1211 Loring Ave. building and four of which he set at 2628 Linden Blvd.

The first fire was back in May, when Hall set a fire at the Linden Boulevard building around 4:25 a.m. He then set three fires at the building just weeks apart in October and November, before setting the fifth at the Loring Avenue building on Nov. 7, officials said.