August 3, 2004

Blaze destroys WRT mobile home

       An early-morning fire that destroyed a White River Township mobile home was intentionally set, investigators said.

        The White River Township Fire Department responded to the fire at Friendly Village Mobile Home Community at 1:32 a.m. Monday, according to Lt. Jim Engmark.

        Neighbor Kristie Leake, who is staying at her sister's trailer, called 911 after hearing a loud boom from the trailer next door, Lot 112 Shady Brook Heights.

        "I went outside and looked in a window and saw it glowing red," Leake said.  "There was no fire on the outside at that point, but I could tell there was one inside. The fire engulfed the trailer by the time (firefighters) arrived."

        Leake said parts of the sides of her sister's trailer were melted by the heat.

        Although firefighters were able to put the fire out within six minutes, Engmark said the trailer was completely destroyed.

        No one was occupying the trailer at the time, and no one was injured in the blaze, he said.

        Some property inside, including furniture, was destroyed. Engmark estimated the damage at about $20,000.

        "It was arson," Engmark said about the fire. "We found four pour patterns inside the trailer home."

        Engmark said pour patterns are caused when someone pours a flammable liquid onto the ground or floor and sets it on fire. The burn marks leave a pattern, he said.

        He did not know what kind of accelerant was used but said lab tests will help pinpoint the liquid. He expects the process to take at least two weeks.

        The trailer, in the back of the trailer park near a drop-off hill, had been vacant for about a year, Engmark said. Management at the trailer park told fire officials the owners had moved to Texas and could not be reached.

        Engmark also said a manager told investigators he had previously found teenagers lounging in the trailer home that burned.

        A woman who identified herself as a manager at the mobile home park refused to discuss the fire or trailer park by telephone Monday.

        A $1,000 reward is being offered to anyone who assists in tracking down the person or people responsible for setting the fire, Engmark said.

        Anyone with information should contact White River Township Fire Marshal Eric Brown at 888-8337. (This article reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)

      

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