In arsons’ wake, sadness
Virginia firefighter charged in string of blazes that damaged businesses, home
By Monique Lewis
Daily Times Staff Writer
SALISBURY – Darla Morres held fresh flowers as she walked out of her burned Sweet Retreat and Tea Room at the Country House on Wednesday.
The flowers were all that survived, she said, after viewing the estimated $21,000 in fire damage her business suffered Tuesday night.
“It’s really sad actually,” said Josh Mitchell of Salisbury. “(Morres) had just opened up a week before. They just put the sign up (Tuesday).”
David Clifton Parks, a paid firefighter at Norfolk Fire Rescue in Virginia, has been charged with allegedly igniting four Salisbury fires at the Country House and the Sweet Retreat and Tea Room, Feldman’s Market Street Antiques & Collectibles, a two-story residential duplex and in a vehicle at the Old Salisbury Mall, deputy state fire marshals said.
Mitchell, a next-door neighbor to the Country House, said he heard a muffled explosion before firefighters arrived five minutes later.
The Salisbury Fire Department was assisted by firefighters from Delmar, Fruitland, Hebron and Parsonsburg.
The first blaze was reported at 9:38 p.m. in a 1995 Crown sedan at the Old Salisbury Mall parking lot, followed by another fire less than 30 minutes later at Morres’ Sweet Retreat and Tea Room on East William Street, fire officials said.
There was smoke damage throughout the whole village, said Country House owner Mike Delano. In 1999, Delano bought and transfigured a group of homes, known as The Village, which was where Morres opened her business Jan. 16.
“It’s a disappointment,” he said. “We’d always wanted to do a tea room.”
A third fire then caused about $150,000 in damage at Feldman’s Market Street Antiques & Collectibles on West Market Street at 10:41 p.m., fire officials said.
Finally, at 11:32 p.m., two occupants of a second-floor residential duplex on Middle Boulevard tried to put out a fire with a garden hose before the fire department arrived.
About 15 minutes later, Salisbury Police Department patrol units stopped a Lincoln Continental car driven by Parks at East Main Street and Snow Hill Road. Officers found a pack of paper matches and a one-gallon container with gasoline in the vehicle, police said.
Lt. Cheryl Rantz of the Salisbury Police Department said the Onancock resident was uncooperative during the traffic stop. Deputy Maryland state fire marshals located a witness who identified Parks and his vehicle at the Middle Boulevard fire scene. Parks’ firefighter position for Norfolk Fire Rescue had been reduced to administrative duties after he was charged with driving under the influence in December, said Garry Windley, spokesperson for Norfolk Fire Rescue.