An arson bug struck several times overnight in Buffalo's Elmwood Village.
Fire Commissioner William Renaldo says a series of garage fires started just after midnight.
"They were all in the Elmwood Village area—two in Cleveland Avenue, one on Highland, one on Elmwood, and one on Penhurst," Renaldo said Tuesday morning.
Renaldo says the last fire was called in just after 3 a.m. He says two firefighters were treated for slight burns.
The commissioner says 20-year-old Nathan Wasyl, of Buffalo, was arrested a short time later near a garage on Middlesex Avenue. Wasyl was charged with 18 counts.
"Five counts of criminal mischief, five counts of reckless endangerment, two counts of burglary, one count of trespassing, four counts of arson in the third-degree. And one count of arson in the second-degree - which are both felonies. Arson in the second-degree was because of our two injured firefighters," Renaldo explained.
Renaldo says two of the fires were set in close proximity to occupied homes that were also damaged. He says Wasyl may have set the fires to cover his tracks after burglarizing the garages.
Combined damages are estimated at $828,000.