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Update: Man Charged With Setting Series Of Fires In Linden

UPDATE, Aug. 1: A Roselle man has been charged with setting the fires. Click here for more. 

Fires in Linden on North Wood and Seymour avenues Thursday heavily damaged two buildings.

Fires in Linden on North Wood and Seymour avenues Thursday heavily damaged two buildings.

Photo Credit: Linden Police Department
Fires in Linden on North Wood and Seymour avenues Thursday heavily damaged two buildings.

Fires in Linden on North Wood and Seymour avenues Thursday heavily damaged two buildings.

Photo Credit: Linden Police Department

Original story is below: 

Firefighters in Linden and neighboring towns handled a string of fires Thursday night that police say appear to be suspicious. 

No one was hurt in any of the fires. 

The first in the series of blazes occurred at 809 N. Wood Ave. around 10 p.m., said Lt. Christopher Guenther of the Linden Police Department. The building was unoccupied, but police said neighbors were evacuated safely as a precaution. 

An empty house on Seymour Avenue went up next, about a half-hour later. That home was severely damaged and the fire displaced people who live nearby. Those residents are being aided by the Red Cross, Geunther said. 

More work came in for firefighters even as they were dealing with those blazes: a string of brush fires and a Dumpster fire at Soehl Middle School. Mutual aid from Garwood, Cranford, Scotch Plains and Clark was on hand Thursday night. 

A garage also went up in nearby Roselle Thursday night, but it was not known if there was any connection with the Linden incidents, WPIX 11 reported. 

Geunther also said it was not known if there was any connection among the Linden fires, but added that the Linden police and fire departments, along with the Union County Arson Investigation Team, are conducting an investigation. 

Anyone with information about these incidents is urged to contact Linden Police Detective Matt Jones or Tim Hubert at 908-474-8537.

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