A city-owned truck was destroyed and five others sustained damage during an arson incident overnight, police said. The suspect got away and remains at large.
Firefighters responded to the scene, a city-owned parking lot one block east of the Bellingham Municipal Court building, just before 4 a.m. Tuesday after receiving reports of a fire, said Lt. Bob Vander Yacht of the Bellinghamn police. When crews arrived, they found a Bellingham Public Works truck fully engulfed in flames. Firefighters doused the flames, but the 2012 Chevy Colorado half-ton pickup was destroyed.
Emergency responders then discovered that five more similar trucks in the parking lot had indications that a fire had been started on them. The gas cap access door on each of the five trucks was open and some type of item had been inserted into the gas tank filler tube and lit on fire, Vander Yacht said.
Each truck had burn marks around the gas filling area.
Replacing the destroyed truck will cost the city, which is self-insured, about $30,000. The other five trucks, which were all similar in age, make and model, need repairs that will be completed at the city shop.