Four Charged in Missouri Lumber Yard Fire

Four people are charged with igniting a fire that caused $5 million worth of damage to a lumber yard, the third such fire in a month.
Nov. 17, 2003
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Four people are charged with igniting a fire that caused $5 million worth of damage to a lumber yard, the third such fire in a month.

Prosecutors allege the four - three men and a woman - set the Oct. 12 fire that caused extensive damage to a lumber yard in Kansas City. Earlier that month, arson fires did about $2 million worth of damage to two other lumber yards in the area. Some lumber suppliers, fearing they would be targeted, increased security after the fires.

``We don't believe that the fires are related,'' Andrew Bouska, a deputy spokesman for the prosecutor's office, said Sunday. ``But that doesn't mean it's been ruled out.''

Prosecutors said second-degree arson charges had been filed Saturday against Mary Linder, 18; Jason Jenkins, 19; Rocky McLaury, 19; and David E. Strobl, 24.

The four are each jailed on $50,000 bond. Two other suspects remained at large, Bouska said.

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