Anti-Arson Rewards Set

Gov. Edward J. King yesterday went to The Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House in Cambridge, where suspicious fires last month delayed efforts by Harvard students to organize a teen center, for the announcement of a new statewide anti-arson program.

The Arson Watch Reward Program, announced yesterday by a state insurance industry association, will offer rewards of up to $1000 to Massachusetts residents for information leading to the arrest or indictment of an arsonist or the deterrence of arson.

King praised the introduction of monetary incentives to combat the "arson epidemic." "When people have an incentive, programs seem to work better," King said yesterday.

Cambridge Fire Chief Daniel J. Reagan, one of several fire chiefs and government officials at Fuller House yesterday, led King on a tour of the damage to the upper two floors of the House caused by two fires on October 22.

Reagan said the new program may help solicit fresh information about the Fuller fires. "The leads are very slim. People just aren't coming forward on this one, if for no other reason than lack of interest," Reagan added.

Harry L. Johnson, president of the board of directors of Fuller House, said yesterday he didn't know if the new program would further the investigation of the Fuller fires.

He said that he thought the fires were the work of vandals, rather than of an organized group. "No one that we know of stands to benefit by a fire like this; everyone stands to lose," Johnson added.