GORHAM – Three cases of arson in one week in unoccupied buildings have put Gorham residents on edge.

Gorham Police Chief Ronald Shepard said this week residents planning to be away are asking police to keep an eye on their homes, while other citizens are alerting police to vacant homes in their neighborhoods.

“People are concerned and are calling us,” Shepard said.

The first of the three fires was in broad daylight on March 27 at 70 Spiller Road, a vacant home. The next was reported at 1:30 a.m. on March 31 at 209 Mighty St., the Gorham SnoGoers clubhouse. The third was at 6:50 a.m. on April 1 at a vacant home at 5 Great Falls Road. A firefighter was injured battling that blaze.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office ruled April 1 the cause of the fires was arson, according to Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Gorham detectives, the Gorham Fire Department and four state fire marshal investigators are probing the fires. There were no suspects at the American Journal’s press time Wednesday.

Detective Sgt. Dana Thompson of the Gorham police said Wednesday they are revisiting the fire scenes and working on leads.

“We’re canvassing the neighborhoods,” Thompson said. “We’re hoping the public comes through.”

Residents are urged to report anything suspicious.

“Call us immediately,” Shepard said.

“In the light of the three fires, folks have to be aware of what is going on in their neighborhood,” Shepard said.

Gorham Fire Chief Robert Lefebvre urged residents to “keep vigilant” and “don’t wait” to call if they spot someone hanging around.

The clubhouse, which was a former Grange hall, and the Great Falls Road house were totally destroyed. Limiting damage at the Spiller Road fire to mostly melted vinyl siding, two Gorham firefighters acting swiftly extinguished the blaze that started outside the home owned by a mortgage company.

“I’m assuming people are definitely nervous,” Ryan Smith, president of the Gorham SnoGoers, a snowmobile club, said Tuesday.

Smith said the SnoGoers, which has 50 members and 15 business members, plans an emergency meeting soon. The clubhouse was a pile of charred rubble this week.

“We’d like to rebuild,” Smith said.

Besides its building, the club losses included trail signs, photos and a chain saw.

Jocelia Hartwell, owner of the property at 5 Great Falls Road, said this week that electricity had been shut off for the winter at their vacant house.

“We were renovating it,” she said.

In that blaze, a Gorham firefighter was injured when he was knocked to the ground by a fire hose that burst, according to a state Public Safety Department report. Lefebvre said the injured firefighter was hospitalized but was released and was recovering at home on Monday.

The Hartwell property and the SnoGoers’ clubhouse both had insurance.

Lefebvre said arson is a class A crime and a conviction could lead to years in prison.