Burn Boston Burn-The Largest Arson Case in the History of the Country is an astounding true crime narration.
A conspiracy of 9 men, including 3 Boston cops and a Boston firefighter, burned Boston and surrounding communities in the early 1980s due to tax-cutting measures that caused layoffs of hundreds of police and firefighters. Over 2 years, these fire buffs, turned arsonists, torched 264 buildings, causing millions of dollars in damages and hundreds of injuries. The city was ablaze with nightly fires, sirens wailing through the streets and people too afraid to sleep.
This book interweaves the activities of the arsonists with those of the investigators, the firefighters, and the citizens of the area. Readers will shake their heads in disbelief at the brazen and wanton actions of these political domestic terrorists. Besides the setting of so many fires, the case included scores of other hard-to believe criminal acts committed by the conspirators, including:
- stealing a brand new police car for parts and dumping it in Boston Harbor
- creating a threat letter comprising cut-out letters to extort the City of Boston
- stealing fire call boxes to delay notification of fires
- calling fire departments with false fires and a bomb scare
- making plans to murder witnesses
- plus many more flagrant violations that terrified the citizens.
The author, now retired ATF Special Agent Wayne Miller, lived this case for three years. A TV cameraman helped break the case when he filmed one of the cops waving his gun in the air at a massive fire as if he were at a rodeo.
After the Boston Police Officer/arsonist became a witness, we utilized 17 undercover contacts to perfect a Federal case. Agent Miller spent innumerable hours interviewing those perpetrators who became Government witnesses. An arsonist's journal provided the basis for chilling insights into their words, actions and thoughts. Mr. Miller now has regular contact with that arsonist who has provided additional information to support the book.
Every firefighter who has heard of the story wants to read about it. Also, anyone interested in true crime, investigative procedures, the inner workings of a criminal conspiracy and fires would have powerful interests in this book. National media covered the case in the early to mid-1980s.
Recently, Mr. Miller was presented with the Jennie F. McLauthlen Award for Lifelong Learning for his work on this story from the Kingston Public Library and the Kingston Council on Aging in Kingston, Massachusetts. Past recipients include David McCullough, Nathaniel Philbrick, Mitchell Zuckoff, Dick Lehr, William Martin, Casey Sherman, Michelle McPhee, Kate Clifford Larson, Stephen Puleo, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Ellen Fitzpatrick, Juliette Fay, and Randy Susan Meyers.
