The Parkersburg fire and police departments are trying to find those responsible for setting fires in garbage dumpsters and trash. Over the past year, suspicious fires have been set in dumpsters in the city as well as someone igniting trash to be collected that has been set out in front of houses, said Chief Fire Inspector Tim Flinn. "We feel some of them may be connected," he said. "Over the past year, we have had 20 dumpsters set on fire. Some have been ignited numerous times with one being set on fire four different times." In some cases, someone has taken discarded rags, ignited them and threw them on a porch. Luckily, the property owners or the fire department responded quickly and put out the fires before they got out of control, Flinn said. Although in most cases damage was minimal, investigators said the potential exists for such fires to get out of control. In some instances, siding on adjacent buildings was damaged from the heat, Flinn said.