"In the 37 years I've been on this is the first time we've had two, right at the same time, three houses apart," says Three Rivers Fire Chief Patrick O'Connor.

Around 11:30 Monday night a neighbor called in the first blaze at a vacant home on Palmer Road. While crews were battling that blaze they noticed another at a vacant house just houses away, a scene that was immediately suspicious to everyone who saw it.

"That's way too coincidental," says Paul Chicoine. "No one's living in either one, no electricity, so there has to be something fishy."

"Definitely right there, you knew it had to be somebody that did it on purpose," says Eric Albert.

And it didn't take long for investigators to determine who was responsible.

"While we were fighting the fire they were asking around, and they found out he did it," says Chief O'Connor.

The alleged arsonist is a 16 year old boy. He lives with his parents in Granby, but often stays with his brother, who lives just a block from the fire scene. Just before the fires were set the teen allegedly sent a text message to his ex-girlfriend who lives nearby, telling her his plan. Then minutes later he allegedly sent her pictures of the burning buildings. Police say the teen admitted to the arson, and neighbors, who say the vacant buildings have posed a problem for years, are glad someone's been caught.

"He put hundreds of firefighters lives in danger, my family, there's four families in here," says Chicoine.

"Hopefully no one will be back to do it again," says Albert.

The teen has been released and will be summonsed to court in the next couple of weeks. Fire officials say the home at 2014 Palmer Road will probably have to be torn down.