Head: "Arsonists hit two area logging truck comapanies"
Picture [a burned log truck].
Caption: "A Redwood Coast Logging truck was destroyed by an arson fire.
Former employees are among the suspects."

By Jason Kennedy Steele
The Times Standard

ARCATA - Investigators said Monday they believe arsonists are
responsible for fires at two trucking companies.

Plastic containers that contained flammable liquid were descovered at
the two sites. Humboldt County sheriff's detective Mike Stone said. The
fires occurred early Sunday morning at Wayne Bare Trucking in Arcata and
Redwood Coast Trucking in Manila, where a logging truck was destroyed by
fire.

"We have not focused our investigation on environmentalists," Stone
said. "We have reports from Redwood Coast Trucking that two recently
dismissed employees may have been involved."

Ken Lankila, one of the managers at Redwood Coast Trucking on 2210
Peninsula Drive, said he did not want to jeopardize the investigation by
commenting on the case.

At 2:30 a.m. Sunday the Arcata Volunteer Fire Department responde to a
smalll grass fire at Wayne Bare Trucking, located at 5550 West End Road.
While firefighters were putting out that blaze, they received at 2:50
a.m. a report of a logging truck on fire at Redwood Coast Trucking.
Firefighters found the truck destroyed by fire.

"The damage from the fire at Redwood Coast Trucking, including the
truck, was about $50,000," Arcata Volunteer Fire Chief Frank Toste said.
"We don't know who was responsible, but we do know that it was arson."

Officials from Wayne Bare Trucking did not want to comment on the ase
Monday. Toste said the fire at Wayne Bare didn't cause any damage to
trucks or buildings.

Thursday an Earth First activist, David Chain, was killed when struck by
a falling tree near Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park east of Fortuna.

Eart First Spokesman Josh Brown said Monday that his group is not
respnsible for the fires. Brown said the fires were random and
coincidental.

"We are not responsible - this was probably done by a group of yahoos,"
Brown said. "There is no connection between the death at Grizzly Creek
and the arson."

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