PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Maine State Police have arrested a Presque Isle man accused of arson in connection with a truck fire on a woods road near Westfield in September.
Following a joint investigation with fire marshals and Maine Forest Service rangers, state police arrested Spencer Goodine, 27, on Oct. 30 at his Presque Isle home, charging him with arson, burglary and theft by unauthorized taking or transfer, according to a press release issued Friday, Nov. 2 by Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland.
Police transported Goodine to the Aroostook County Jail, where he is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Fire Marshal investigators and Forest Rangers responded on Sept. 3 to the Bogan Brook Road in T10 R3, near Westfield, to find a burning service truck. The vehicle was being used in a woods operation run by TNT Road Company of Fort Kent, the release stated.
The fire occurred in a region known as the Burntlands south of the end of Chapman Road. Members of the Presque Isle Fire Department and forest rangers extinguished the fire, which also impacted less than a half-acre of woods on either side of the road.
McCausland said Friday that investigators discovered a large number of tools on the truck had been stolen.
The service truck was a 2002 Sterling M8500 diesel and contained thousands of dollars worth of tools, parts, supplies, fuel and gear to support a timber operation. A Miller Trailblazer 302 Airpak Model 907376 welder/generator/compressor was among items stolen.
Police estimated the value of the truck and the stolen equipment at $100,000. Investigators determined arson to be the cause of the fire, McCausland said.
The joint investigation resulted in the recovery of the stolen compressor and some of the tools and supplies taken from the truck, but many items are still missing, and investigators ask the public’s help in locating them.
Anyone with information should contact the Public Safety Dispatch Center in Houlton at (207) 532-5400.
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- A fire on Sept. 3, 2018, destroyed this logging truck, owned by TNT Road Company of Fort Kent. Maine State Police arrested 27-year-old Spencer Goodine of Presque Isle on charges of arson in the case. (Courtesy of Maine State Police)
