June 17--PEMBROKE -- The Sheriff's Office is investigating two unrelated arsons, one that occurred Sunday and the other earlier this month. In one of the incidents, a fire truck was destroyed.
According to Lt. Brian Duckworth, a fire investigator with the Robeson County Sheriff's Office, a brush truck from the Pembroke Rural Fire Department caught on fire while it was being used by firefighters to fight a fire in a wheat field at Darell Drive at about 7 p.m. on Sunday.
"Their truck hit a wet spot and got stuck," Duckworth said. "The exhaust system of the truck set the wheat under the truck on fire and burned the truck."
Duckworth said the truck was valued at $50,000 to $60,000.
"There might be a few pieces of hard tools that may be salvageable but other than that there's nothing left," he said.
Duckworth said no one was was injured during the fire.
According to Duckworth, some children had been seen playing in the field and are believed to have started the fire. Duckworth said the fire burned several acres of wheat, causing the farmer to lose some crop.
Firefighters were able to put out the fire by 8 p.m., Duckworth said.
In an unrelated case, lawmen are seeking the person responsible for setting fire to an RV on June 6 after stealing two motorcycles that were in it.
According to Duckworth, two black Harley Davidson Road Kings were stolen from an RV that belongs to Chris Corbin, 36, of 2377 Davis Bridge Road, Parkton. Duckworth said Corbin, who is in the military, was in the camper when the fire started but escaped unharmed.
Anyone with information should call the Robeson County Sheriff's Office at 910-671-3100 or Duckworth at 910-671-3189.
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