Early am Construction Equip Fire. Is this an accident or arson?

[David]

Interesting to note that there are few details and no mention or arson...

Date: 1/14/19​

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Time:01:57 A.M.​

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Location / Address: 20475 Point Lookout Road, Great Mills, St. Mary's County​

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Type of Incident: Commercial Vehicle Fire​

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Description of Structure / Property: 2016, 2007 and 2005 Peterbilt Dump Trucks and 2002 Gradall​

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Owner / Occupants: APF Construction Company​

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Injuries or Deaths: None​

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Estimated $ Loss: $340,000​

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Smoke Alarm Status: N/A​

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Fire Alarm / Sprinkler Status: N/A​

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Arrests(s): None​

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Primary Responding Fire Department: Second District VFD​

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# of Alarms: 1 # Of Firefighters: 20​

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Time to Control: 20 minutes​

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Discovered By: Neighbor​

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Area of Origin: Under Investigation​

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Preliminary Cause: Under Investigation​

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Additional Information: Just prior to 2:00 A.M., St. Mary's County 911 Center receive calls for a fire at the above listed address. Once fire department personnel arrived on scene, they located 3 dump trucks and a Gradall involved in fire. Anyone with information in regards to the fire is asked to call the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Southern Region at 443-550-6832​

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[spr1975wshs]

One might think suspiciously of this sort of fire at that time of day.

 

[officeguy]

Could be some jury-rigged engine heater.

Even in cases where arson is pretty obvious, the fire marshal lists the cause as 'under investigation' until he has applied for a warrant.

 

[mdff21]

It is listed as "undetermined" until they determine a cause. Once a cause is determined it will be listed as accidental, incendiary or undetermined. Obtaining warrants will be done in follow-up investigations to determine the responsible party(ies). Fires that have been determined as incendiary have been investigated for some periods of time before warrants have been obtained and arrests made.

 

[glhs837]

Could be some jury-rigged engine heater.

Even in cases where arson is pretty obvious, the fire marshal lists the cause as 'under investigation' until he has applied for a warrant.

That was my first thought, that it most likely was engine block heating gone wrong.