Dayton Fire Department crews were dispatched at 11:52 a.m. that day to a reported fire at 21 W. First St., said Dayton Deputy Fire Chief Brad French.
When crews arrived, there was no active fire. However, they found obvious evidence of a fire that had occurred in the parking garage area at an unknown time prior to their arrival, according to the Dayton Fire Department.
A fire was set in a bathroom, and evidence of a second smaller fire was noted in an adjacent stairwell, French said. No one was hurt.
The bathroom, which was against the cinderblock wall the garage shares with Rabbit Hole Books, had been boarded and was difficult to access, store owner Larkin Vonalt said.
“In order to get at where the fire was, the person who started the fire actually had to remove a wooden panel that had been screwed to the wall and painted over,” she said. “They had done such a good job in closing that bathroom that even though we’ve had that bookstore for three years and I’ve walked in there past that space every day, I had no idea it was there. So it was somebody who knew it was there.”
As to whether the bookstore was targeted, Vonalt said that while there weren’t a lot of flammable items in the garage, “if you wanted to start a fire that would impact us at the bookstore, there is no better place in the parking garage to have done it.”
Dayton’s Fire Investigations Unit responded to the scene, and determined that the fires were incendiary, French said, meaning they were set intentionally. Anyone with information regarding the fire is encouraged to contact Dayton Fire Investigators at 937-333-TIPS or Miami Valley Crime Stoppers at 937-222-STOP.
Rabbit Hole Books, which partners with the Dayton Book Fair, sells secondhand books for a dollar. The goal is to have the store back open by March 6, Vonalt said, but the store may have to remain closed for longer. The City of Dayton posted a nuisance abatement order for the building earlier this week, the same day remediation crews were scheduled to come in for Rabbit Hole Books, Vonalt said.
“Nobody can go in,” she said. “We can apparently appeal to get into the building to start getting the stuff remediated, but this was really such a slap in the face.”
This is not the first time Rabbit Hole Books has sustained property damage. The bookshop was caught in a vandalism spree last year that affected six local businesses, including Lisse Beauty Bar, which shares the building with Rabbit Hole Books.
Vonalt expressed concern that the fire incident would perpetuate negative stereotypes about the downtown area and safety, further affecting local businesses.
“I have come and gone from that location very late at night, very early in the morning. I’ve never felt unsafe ever. So I think, unfortunately, if … you’re already nervous about downtown, this just kind of serves to underscore what you think is dangerous. And it really isn’t.”
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