The Santa Fe Fire Department is no stranger to investigating incidents of arson.
A week ago, though, the department was on the receiving end of the investigation.
Arson is suspected in a July 17 evening blaze that destroyed a brush truck and heavily damaged a million-dollar ladder truck parked next to it at the fire department’s training grounds near the intersection of Siler Road and Agua Fría Street, Fire Chief Paul Babcock said Thursday.
“It does hurt,” he said, referring to the destruction and damage of public property.
According to a police report, the fire erupted around 8 p.m., not long after the department’s training officer went home for the weekend “after securing the gates to the location.”
The fire department’s fleet manager and a firefighter told police the brush truck “should have no mechanical failures or issues which would cause it to ignite,” the report states.