SUPERIOR TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — "Everybody's scared out here right now, you know, trying to catch who it was," said Felicia Hugan, who added that it's hard to sleep these days knowing someone has been starting fires in her Superior Township neighborhood.
Several homes have been damaged or destroyed in the seven fires that began in August.
Investigators with the Superior Township Fire Department and the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office believe they're being intentionally set.
On Monday, witnesses spotted a teenager who lives in the area trying to set fire to a patio. The teen was located and later released to his parents, pending the outcome of the investigation and a review of the evidence by the prosecutor's office.
Kenneth Edwards and his wife live in one of the homes destroyed and he doubts they would have escaped in time if their neighbor hadn't alerted them to the fire that spread from an unoccupied home to theirs.
"Thank God for my neighbor," Edwards told 7 Action News. "If she wouldn't have came through, the way that fire was burning, there's no way we would've made it out of there."
The Michigan State Police Fire Marshal is also involved in the joint investigation.
Anyone with information about the fires should contact Deputy Bland at Blandc@washtenaw.org or submit a tip anonymously to (734) 973-7711.
An anonymous tip can also be provided to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
