Police are investigating a suspected arson incident that left seven semi trucks severely damaged by fire.
Officers responded to a call regarding a vehicle on fire at around 3 a.m. on Sunday at the corner of Stanley Avenue and Essex Street in a Brooklyn, New York neighborhood.
When officials arrived at the scene, they found a semi truck’s cab in flames.
It was later discovered that six other semi truck cabs, parked five blocks apart, were also set on fire. The trucks were owned a New Jersey based waster hauler, TTS Trucking.
The damage was extensive.
CBS New York reported that a woman witnessed the incident.
“A man got out of a regular box truck, out of the passenger side. He came out of the truck, he walked right here to the passenger side of the tractor trailer, busted the windows, and next thing I know there was an explosion.”
The witness described the man as “short, I’d say 5’7”, 5’9”; kind of chubby. He had on all black; a black hoodie.”
According to ABC 7, truck owner-operators in the area reported that truck fires are a constant problem in the area. They explained that at least twenty trucks had been destroyed in the past few months.
Trucker Carlos Parrales stated,
“Nobody is safe. Parking on the street, nobody is safe. You’re concerned about your own truck, yeah, right now I have three trucks and I cannot sleep.”
Truck drivers are becoming distressed. Driver Juan Camelo said,
“That’s the only truck that I have. I don’t know what I’m going to do now. I got a family to support like everybody else.”
Truck driver Nazim Khan is concerned for his safety. “It’s scary, you don’t want to work, you could be sleeping in one of those trucks.”
Police continue to search for the arson suspect.
Fire fighters spent hours extinguishing the flames. No one was injured in the fires and traffic was not affected. The incident remains under investigation.