Deputies investigate suspicious car fire

Dense white smoke billowed from a burning car parked along Brooklyn Avenue earlier this month, in what deputies are investigating as a possible arson.

Aaron Morrison/amorrison@thelancasternews.com

Members of Gooches Crossroads and McDonald Green volunteer fire departments, as well several sheriff’s deputies, responded to a vehicle fire in the 100 block of Brooklyn Avenue just before 3 p.m. Feb. 16, according to a Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office incident report.

As several firefighters in turnout gear tackled the fire by spraying water inside and below the car, deputies ran the license plate number and searched for an owner.

Deputies discovered that the 1997 Honda Accord was registered to a Society Hill woman, though she was not at the scene, the report said.

Speaking with various people in the area, deputies eventually met with a woman who said the car had been parked on the side of the road since 8 a.m. that day.

The witness also remembered that at about 2:50 p.m. a white SUV pulled up next to the car and parked for a couple of minutes.

The SUV then sped away from the scene, the report said.

“(The witness) stated a couple of minutes later she noticed the car was on fire and she called 911,” a deputy wrote in the report.

The driver of the SUV is unknown.

Firefighters were forced to pry open the car’s hood and trunk as they tackled, and eventually extinguished, the fire. Estimated damage to the car was at least $2,000, the report said, though there was extensive fire, smoke and water damage.

Deputies later examined the car and noticed it was heavily burnt inside the passenger side area, though there appeared to be little to no damage in the engine compartment.

The assistant chief of Gooches Volunteer Fire Department later told deputies the fire did not appear to be accidental, the report said.

As deputies were clearing the car to be towed, a woman arrived to claim the car, though her name was different from the one listed as the owner, the report said.

According to the report, the investigation is ongoing. It is unknown if any arrests have been made in the case.