Photo courtesy of the county Sheriff's Department.

BROCTON — A suspect in the fires deliberately set by the entryway of two churches in Brocton early Monday morning appears to have been caught on camera in Ripley.

A person matching the description of the suspect in both fires was seen walking west on Route 20 in Ripley toward the state line. Security camera footage provides a much clearer view of the suspect than the footage obtained from cameras in Brocton.

The suspect was observed via security footage from the Country Fair store in Brocton heading west on foot early Monday morning. The suspect then appeared to deliberately set a fire on the sidewalk under an awning near an entrance to the Tri-Church Parish.

Later that morning, a person matching the same description appeared to deliberately set another fire on the sidewalk of the Fellowship Church, located on School Street and Route 20 in Brocton, approximately one mile west of the Tri-Church Parish. Security footage was provided by Brocton Central Schools.

Investigators theorized the suspect was setting the fires to keep warm during a storm early Monday morning. Each of the fires were set on a dry sidewalk under an awning, sheltered from the rain Monday morning. The suspect did not appear to attempt to spread either fire to the buildings themselves.

The recent footage in Ripley that shows a person matching the description of the suspect follows along the path the suspect appeared to be on Monday morning at the time of the fires. Route 20 travels through Brocton, Westfield, and Ripley before crossing into Pennsylvania.

The fires were especially alarming to Brocton residents because of the history of a major fire at the Tri-Church Parish nearly 10 years to the date. In that incident, Daniel Frey was convicted of third-degree arson and sentenced to four to eight years in prison.

The ongoing violence overseas added figurative fuel to the literal flames, especially because the sites of the fires set in Brocton were places of worship. Wednesday, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand requested that $500 million in funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) to protect synagogues, Jewish community centers, mosques, and other religious or non-profit institutions that are at high risk of terrorist attacks.

Anyone with additional information is urged to contact Chautauqua County Investigator Doug Walter at (716) 753-4907.