Delaware arsonist. 9th fire in two weeks.

The Delaware State Fire Marshal’s Office is still conducting an investigation. There are “people of interest,” but no real suspects, said Randall Lee, chief deputy fire marshal for Sussex County.

“We need enough probable cause to get a judge to sign a warrant and we don’t have that yet,” Lee said. “We’re certainly developing information and hoping that will lead to an arrest.”

The string of arsons started with three separate fires in Laurel on May 24 and one May 25. A week later, two more structures were burned in Delmar. The final three fires occurred during the course of a month starting June 21.

Fire officials are working with area fire departments and the Delaware State Police. They have also canvassed neighborhoods looking for information, Lee said.

Nationally, there were an estimated 31,000 arsons in 2006, according to the most recent report by the Massachusetts-based National Fire Protection Association.

But overall, the nation has experienced a significant decline in arsons. During a nine-year period starting in 1997, the number of incidents dropped from 78,500 to 31,000.

The number of deaths from intentional fires during the same period dropped from 445 to 305.

In Delaware, there were 17 arrests for first-degree arson and 26 arrests for second-degree arson in 2006, according to the state fire marshal’s most recent annual report.

Considered a felony in Delaware, a person can be charged with first-degree arson when the structure that was torched was occupied or could have been occupied. The maximum penalty is 15 years in jail. When the structure is vacant, an individual can be charged with second-degree arson and could serve up to eight years in jail.

While arson sprees are not common in the state, they do come in “spells,” said Lee, who recalled a rash of arsons in Dover a few years ago.

Nationally, intentional fires account for about 40 percent of blazes, said Douglas Williams who heads the arson investigation unit for Federal Emergency Management Agency U.S. Fire Administration National Fire Data Center.

Spite, revenge and vandalism were among the top reasons for arson, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. The report also notes that sometimes arson is used to conceal crimes such murder, embezzlement and burglary. Fraud is not as prevalent a motive for intentional fires.

“It’s an easy crime to get away with, regrettably,” Williams said.

The key is to determine if it’s a serial arsonist setting the fires or if it’s someone on a spree, Williams said. The danger rests in the possibility that the arsonist could move from abandoned and vacant structures and homes to occupied ones, he added.

According to a U.S. Fire Administration National Fire Data Center report, vacant and abandoned buildings are frequently targets and account for a large percentage of structural arson fires. Vacant and abandoned structures are eye candy for the arsonist.

Typically when owners abandon property, vandals may come and smash windows and remove boarded-up doorways to steal whatever is left inside. After the house has been virtually stripped, an arsonist could come along and torch the place.

Williams encouraged neighborhoods to watch for strange vehicles and people. He also advised for individuals to make note of strangers’ clothing, height weight and build.