SALEM — On Feb. 22, 1982, Robert St. Pierre got an early morning phone call at home, asking him to come into work as soon as possible.
When St. Pierre, then a lieutenant detective on the Salem Police Department, asked what was going on, he was told to look out his window.
He was shocked to see flames and smoke shooting up from two downtown locations.
"When I saw that, it sent a chill right through me," he said. "A very, very serious event in the history of the city went on that day."
Today marks the 30th anniversary of arson fires that destroyed the Salem National Guard Armory on Essex Street and heavily damaged the Masonic Temple building on Washington Street. Fire crews from more than 30 communities came to Salem to help fight the fires, which caused millions of dollars in damage.
That same day, a person entered the back of police headquarters, then on Central Street, and poured gasoline on the floor and stairs. Lit matches were found nearby, but fortunately they never ignited the pool of gas.
"It was miraculous that the police station didn't go down, as well," said St. Pierre, who retired as police chief in 2009.
The Monday morning fires capped off a weekend that St. Pierre describes as a "reign of terror."
On Saturday evening, Feb. 20, fire had broken out in the 1890 Power block at 138-144 Washington St. The blaze claimed the life of 60-year-old Salem firefighter Raymond McSwiggin, who collapsed at the scene.
The chain of events left residents and town officials unnerved and fearful of which building might be next. A state of emergency was declared, and an arson watch was set up in the downtown area.
"The whole weekend was quite a weekend," Deputy fire Chief James Lynch said. "We were all still feeling the loss of firefighter McSwiggin. While we were at the armory (fire), we had the call about the Masonic Building. None of us had ever experienced that type of thing before."
Lynch, who has been on the Salem Fire Department for 37 years, said that weekend's fires, coupled with the loss of a firefighter, will stand out as the worst weekend of his career.
St. Pierre was part of an investigative team that ultimately arrested and charged Clement Lavigne, a 24-year-old with a history of nighttime break-ins, with setting the fire at the armory. He was tried in Superior Court, found guilty and served time in state prison, St. Pierre said.
Police zeroed in on Lavigne from a pool of suspects after several items from an officer's desk at the armory were found in a briefcase he was carrying.
"The pressure was on the Salem Police Department, and we did what it took to put a stop to this," St. Pierre said. "It took us two days to make an arrest."
St. Pierre said Lavigne admitted to pouring the gasoline at the police station. Lavigne was never linked to the Power block fire, St. Pierre said, but "suspicions were very strong."
The fiery February was the worst Salem had seen since the epic fire of 1914.
Several weeks before the armory fire, a blaze broke out at Ste. Anne Church, for which a different person, not Lavigne, was suspected.
"These were major fires ... too many fires in close proximity," St. Pierre said. "(Then-Mayor) Jean Levesque called an emergency meeting that morning (of the armory fire). Everyone was just beside themselves."
The armory fire was reported at 5:50 a.m. on Feb. 22; less than an hour later, a five-alarm blaze was going at the Masonic building.
The Armory fire was of great concern because the massive, 1908 building was just feet away from the Essex Institute, now part of the Peabody Essex Museum, and contained priceless historical books and records.
St. Pierre said he remembers walking down the Essex Street mall that day and watching as cinders floated through the air, landing on downtown buildings.
"It was quite a scene," he said. "It was something right out of a movie, to see this. ... (The 1982 fires) were one of the most significant investigations I was involved in."
St. Pierre, who served as Salem police chief for 25 years, now works as acting chief of police at Salem State University.
In a twist of fate, St. Pierre's son, Patrolman Kevin St. Pierre, also arrested Clement Lavigne in October 2010 in connection with a string of overnight robberies in Salem.
Lavigne's case continues to make its way through the courts; he has a change-of-plea hearing scheduled for March 8. He is charged with two counts each larceny over $250 and breaking and entering in the nighttime for a felony.
Lavigne, now in his 50s, has been in custody since his 2010 arrest and has spent some of that time in state psychiatric facilities, according to court records.
The armory was reduced to a facade and stood propped up on its lot for years. The remaining drill shed was converted to the Salem Visitor Center in 1994. The Peabody Essex Museum acquired the remaining property and created Armory Park, a memorial to the area's military heritage, on the site.
Staff writer Bethany Bray can be reached at bbray@salemnews.com and on Twitter @SalemNewsBB.
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