Coordinated Arson Attacks Cause $750,000 in Damage to Maine Company's Trucks

POLAND, Maine — Arsonists set fire April 1 to several tractor-trailer cabs within minutes of each other in coordinated attacks at two locations about 36 miles apart, according to the Maine fire marshal’s office.

Federal investigators were brought in April 3 to help investigate the arsons at the R.C. Moore Inc. trucking company locations in Scarborough and Poland that caused an estimated $750,000 worth of damage.

“Six trucks were destroyed by fire,” Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland said April 3 in an e-mail. “Two others were damaged.”

Investigators are saying the fires were coordinated since they targeted the same firm and happened just three minutes apart in the two communities.

“I didn’t get much sleep last night,” company President Kelly Moore said by phone from the trucking firm’s Poland headquarters.

The fire at the company’s 8 Ginn Road location in Scarborough was reported at 8:16 p.m. by a passing truck driver and the fire at the company lot at 4 Spring Water Road, located off Route 122 in Poland, was reported at 8:19 p.m. by a truck driver, sleeping in his cab in the parking lot, Moore said.

He estimated the damage at around $750,000.

“The trucks were parked nose to nose and firefighters stopped the flames from reaching other trucks parked alongside,” McCausland said.

Agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives based in Maine joined the investigation April 3.

Investigators scheduled a press conference at the Poland company lot at 2:30 p.m. April 3 to provide an update.

The company, which provides short and long-haul trucking services all over the East, employs about 280 people, Moore said.

“We don’t know much at this point, except that the trucks were definitely set on fire,” he said.