Between 9/5/2011 and 9/8/2011, Fire and Police Department personnel responded to six, late night, residential arson fires. These included:

9/5/2011 – 2318hrs: 349 Stratfield Road
9/5/2011 – 0423hrs: 50 Chatham Road
9/5/2011 – 2345hrs: 50 Chatham Road
9/8/2011 – 0219hrs: 1300 North Benson Road
9/8/2011 – 0259hrs: 321 Woodridge Avenue
9/8/2011 – 0340hrs: 53 Cornell Road

The homes appeared to have been targeted because they were vacant and/or were for sale. Several of the homes were extensively damaged, and in one case, a firefighter was hospitalized with burns he suffered while battling the blaze.

These arson cases were made the top priority of the police department, which ultimately involved the extensive investigative efforts of every detective, along with key support from patrol personnel.

These efforts culminated in the 9/8/2011 arrest of Christopher Message, age 34, of Valley Road, Fairfield, CT by detectives from the Fairfield Police Department. He is being charged with three (3) counts of Arson 1st Degree, and one (1) count of Burglary 1st Degree. Additional charges will be forthcoming. His bond has not been set as of the time of this release. Message is also a suspect in several fires in nearby municipalities, and we are currently notifying those agencies.

The Fairfield Police Department would like to express its gratitude for the extensive assistance provided by the Fairfield Fire Department, the Fairfield and State of CT Fire Marshall’s Office, and the CT State Police Major Crime Squad.

The Fairfield Police Department is confident that Message’s arrest will end this spree of serial residential arson fires.