PORTLAND, Ore. — Kathryn Alsworth has wrapped barbed wire around an exterior vent on her North Portland home. It isn't by choice — it is out of necessity.
"Maybe he's mentally ill, but not that mentally ill," Alsworth said.
Alsworth is referring to the man who has set fire to her house three times in as many days. The first time was on Friday, August 4. The fire destroyed a fern before Alsworth and others put it out. Firefighters came by the house nonetheless.
"They looked it all over and they thought it would be random and that would be it, 'cause it's pretty accessible," Alsworth said. "You can just walk over there."
It would turn out that this was anything but random.
The man returned the very next night and lit a second fire. He lit a third fire late Sunday night, but by this time Alsworth had installed a security camera that captured everything. Footage shows a man approach the house and start the fire. The man then looks at the camera and bolts.
"I don't know if this is a challenge for him and he'll come back later when it all dies down, whether he's done 'cause of the camera ... I don't know what he wants," Alsworth said.
"That's infuriating and terrifying," Marina Sprinker added.
Sprinker is Alsworth's daughter. She, too, lives at the house. Sprinker said the last week has been extremely unsettling. She and her mom do not recognize the arsonist and they do not know why he is targeting them.
"I grew up in this neighborhood," Sprinker said. "Even in the '90s when it was a bad neighborhood, it wasn't that bad. I never felt unsafe and now I'm looking over my shoulder all the time."
As is Alsworth, who hopes police can capture the man who is terrorizing her and her family.
"He was pretty darn methodical and efficient with his bucket and the stuff he had," Alsworth said. "He knew what he was doing. If he can do it here, he can do it somewhere else."
Authorities are very concerned about these fires. Crime Stoppers of Oregon is offering a cash reward of up to $2,500 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in this case.