Trailer park fires stoke arson concerns
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Authorities are investigating two suspicious fires that damaged a supply shed and destroyed a storage building on separate nights last week at a mobile home park.
Around 3 a.m. Aug. 11, 2015, the Presque Isle Fire Department responded to a fire at a cold storage shed at the Skyway Trailer Park, a community of more than 20 mobile homes.
The shed — containing sand, salt and other supplies — still stands, though with significant fire damage, according to Presque Isle Fire Chief Darrell White.
Two nights later, just after 3 a.m. Thursday, firefighters responded to another fire adjacent to the location of the initial fire, at another cold storage building holding lumber and building material.
This time because of all the dry plywood the structure was a “total loss,” White said. “That’s going to smolder for days.”
He said Thursday afternoon fire crews were periodically returning to the scene to apply water.
No homes were damaged and no residents were injured at the Skyway Trailer Park, owned by 76-year-old Geary Bonville, who also owns the G S Bonville & Son auto repair shop in Presque Isle.
Both of the buildings were powerless, which rules out electricity-related fires and raises the possibility of a crime, White said.
“This case is suspicious in nature,” the fire chief said. “We’re investigating to see if we can rule out arson or rule in arson.”
Another reason for suspicion, White said, is an arson occurred at a duplex at the same mobile home park last summer.
Presque Isle resident Travis McDonald was charged in that case with arson, which significantly damaged one side of the duplex, and was sentenced in April to 18 years in prison, with 14 years of the sentence suspended.
