Arson Investigation for Fire Started by Rags

This is a press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office. The information has not been proven in a court of law and the individuals described should be presumed innocent until proven guilty:

On 06-08-2015 at about 5:17 a.m. the Eureka Fire Department responded to a fire located in front of a residence in the 300 block of Baccchetti Drive, Eureka. When the Fire Department arrived on scene they discovered that an 18’ fishing boat, and a Toyota Tundra truck had been set on fire. Someone had attempted to set a wood chipper on fire, but it did not burn. All three of these items were located near the residence. The Eureka Fire Department through their investigation determined the fire to be suspicious in nature and contacted the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.

A Humboldt County Sheriff Deputy then responded to the scene to conduct an arson investigation. The deputy collected evidence from the scene, which may be sent to the California Department of Justice for analysis. Both the boat and truck were completely destroyed in the fire.

The cause of the fire was determined to be rags that were placed into the gas tanks on the boat and truck and then set on fire. The rag that was placed into the wood chipper gas tank did not catch on fire. There are no suspects at this time.

This case is still under investigation by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office. Anyone with information for the Sheriff’s Office regarding this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office at 707-445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at 707-268-2539.