June 23, 2005 – Fire damaged five vehicles belonging to the V.I. National Guard Wednesday night. Three were completely destroyed.
A release from the Guard's Public Affairs Office late Wednesday night said the high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles, known as Humvees, were parked at the motor pool at the Lt. Col. Lionel A. Jackson Armory complex in Estate Bethlehem, when security personnel found them "engulfed by flames" and called 911. The territory was experiencing a thunder and lightening storm at the time of the incident, but the release said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
"At this time the incident is under investigation by the Arson Prevention and Investigation Unit and will continue in the morning," St. Croix Fire Chief Ovaldo Graham was quoted as saying.
A unit from the Grove Place Fire Station responded to the 911 call. Graham said they used foam to suppress the flames.
Humvees are light, highly mobile, diesel -powered, four-wheel-drive vehicles used for carrying troops, and armaments, as well as serving as ambulances, according to a U.S. Army Web site.
"The loss of the vehicles will affect our training ability,"Karen Williams, V.I. National Guard pubic affairs officer, said, "but not our readiness capability to respond when called upon."
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