Rutland officials announced a $5,000 bounty Monday for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a serial arsonist who has been torching trash bins and more than a few adjacent city buildings in recent weeks.

"It's getting pretty serious," Mayor John Cassarino told the Board of Aldermen Monday night. "We need all the eyes and ears of Rutland to help out. If anyone sees or hears anything suspicious, call the police or call me or any member of the board. We've got to get this taken care of."

The mayor delivered his first public address on the fires just days after the most damaging blaze thus far consumed part of the Italian-American Club on Grove Street.

Rutland Fire Chief Robert Schlachter said that fire did about $75,000 in damage to the building and cost the city about $2,000 to put out.

Holding a sign listing the reward and a number for the Vermont Arson Tip Program where callers can anonymously inform authorities, the fire chief called on the public to be calm but observant.

"It's time now for the 17,000 pairs of eyes in Rutland to be on the watch," he said. "It is not a time to panic, but a time to be vigilant."

Schlachter also reiterated a request to area business owners to move their trash bins away from buildings to prevent fires from spreading to structures.

"We're asking them to move them just 10 feet away from the buildings, or at least to lock them down and make sure that bags of trash aren't leaning against them," the fire chief said.

The reward, the first of its kind offered in Rutland in years, would be paid from the Arson Tip Program, which has offered similar rewards in other communities.

Schlachter said after addressing the board that he, along with state and city police investigating the fires, agreed recently that it was time to bring the tip line and the reward into play.

Anyone with information on the fires can call the tip line at 1-800-32-ARSON or state police Detective Sgt. James Cruise at 773-9101 or city police Detective Sgt. Kevin Stevens at 773-1816.

Contact Brent Curtis at brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com.