AMITE -- Tangipahoa Parish sheriff's deputies and Amite firefighters are seeking the public's help in solving eight arsons in the Amite area -- including two at Mayor Reggie Goldsy's house and three at two area public schools.

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Three others happened at abandoned houses.

The fires happened between Nov. 29 and March 6, deputies said Tuesday.

Bruce Cutrer, chief of the Tangipahoa Parish Fire Protection District No. 1, which includes Amite, said a police officer and volunteer firefighter who was recently arrested in connection with other recent arsons, is not linked to the eight fires.

Lee Widas, 23, is a Roseland Fire Department volunteer firefighter and suspended Amite Police Department officer who was arrested Saturday and booked with setting different fires in the Amite area.

Cutrer said that, including the arsons tied to Widas, there have been 14 arson fires reported in Amite since late November.

Cutrer said fires set at the abandoned houses, all of which happened in early March and were on the same street, were serious fires.

The first of two arsons at Amite Elementary School was reported at 1:50 a.m. Jan. 15. It destroyed a school storage building, Cutrer said.

A second Amite Elementary blaze self-extinguished in a classroom and was discovered on Monday morning, March 3, when a teacher opened the classroom, Cutrer said.

The third school fire, at Northwood High School north of Amite off U.S. 51, was set Jan. 29, in a trash can outside the principal's office, Cutrer said.

The fires at Goldsby's house happened within hours of each other in late November.

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Information from: The Advocate, http://www.2theadvocate.com

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