A fire that burned a snowmobile trailer late last week at the Bond Brook Recreation Area has been ruled arson, and investigators continue to search for whoever set it.
Sgt. Joel Davis, of the state fire marshal’s office, said nobody has been charged in connection with the Thursday fire, which destroyed a two-snowmobile trailer. The investigation is ongoing, Davis said.
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Davis said investigators have determined that the fire was set intentionally.
The arson is the second in the recreation area in the past three years. In July 2011 a Gardiner man was charged with arson in connection with a fire that destroyed a shed.
The trailer was parked in the bowl area near the timing shack.
Leif Dahlin, community services director for the city of Augusta, which owns the 300-acre recreation park, said the trailer was owned by a volunteer. Dahlin said the trailer, which was destroyed, was worth about $1,500.
Dahlin said whoever set the fire “has no conscience and couldn’t care less about the community.” He said the city is beefing up security with cameras, as it did after a spate of vandalism in 2011, and will continue to monitor the area as closely as possible, but there will be no changes to inhibit free use of the park.
“One person’s actions will not dictate policy at the expense of the vast majority of the people who use the park,” Dahlin said. “One person is not going to shut down that park.”
There have been other cases of damaged property at the park in addition to the two fires. Those cases usually lead to charges, Dahlin said.
“So far we’ve been pretty good at apprehending them,” he said.
In July 2011, a Gardiner man was charged with arson in the destruction of a wooden shed on the same property. The shed was used for timing Nordic ski races and for storage.
Daniel Dill’s image was caught on game cameras, set up to monitor a recent spate of vandalism at the park, as he set fire to the shed.
Dahlin said the park has multiple entry points, making it vulnerable to vandals, which makes it particularly important for people to take notice and notify police of suspicious activity they see at the park. Dahlin hopes anyone who noticed unusual activity at the park Thursday will call Augusta police at 626-2370.
“To think we can adequately secure that park from mischief makers, at the end of the day, it isn’t going to happen.”
Craig Crosby — 621-5642
Twitter: @CraigCrosby4
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