Arson suspected in Sunday vehicle fire

Goldbug firefighters believe that a Sunday evening vehicle fire may have been intentionally set.

Arson is suspected in the burning of this van late Sunday evening.

About 11:30 p.m., Goldbug volunteer firefighters responded to a report about an unknown fire on US25W near Aviation Boulevard.

While firefighters were in route to the fire, Whitley County E-911 dispatchers advised it was a vehicle on fire next to a garage.

When they arrived at the scene, firefighters found a green Plymouth Voyager van fully engulfed in flames about 15 feet from a detached garage, which was near a house. Nobody was nearby, said Goldbug Volunteer Fire Department Chief Brandon Woods.

Woods said the owner of the vehicle doesn’t even live around here.

“We finally have located the owners of the residence and have contacted the Kentucky State Police arson investigator,” Woods noted. “At some point and time it had been pushed out of the garage recently. The tracks coming out of the garage were fresh. We don’t know how fresh. It didn’t appear the vehicle had been driven. There is no reason it should have been on fire.”

The garage got a “little warm,” but otherwise wasn’t damaged.

Woods said that there was some concern for the power lines above the burning vehicle.

Two fire trucks and seven firefighters responded to the blaze and were on the scene for about 45 minutes.

So far there are no suspects in the case.