DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A man’s cars have been left charred outside his home in Deerfield Beach.
The fire, which the homeowner is calling suspicious, happened at 1300 SW 8th Ave., Thursday.
The homeowner, R.B. Wilkins, said it didn’t make sense how the fire traveled through grass, cement and then spread from his dump truck to the rest of his other vehicles.
“That for this car to effect that truck, I don’t understand,” said Wilkins. “It’s almost 15 feet apart. How could that happen? It’s a mystery to me.”
He hopes someone in the neighborhood saw something at around 3:30 to 4 a.m.
Wilkins has had a landscaping business for more than 30 years, and the trucks burned in the fire were his lifeline. He is glad that there was minimal damage to his dump truck, however.
“This ain’t good. I mean that’s three vehicles that are just totally gone,” said Wilkins. “If it had destroyed the bigger truck, I would have totally been out of business.”
All his other vehicles were a complete loss.
Wilkins said he heard a noise at around 4 a.m., jumped out of bed and saw his dump truck on fire.
He grabbed his water hose in an attempt to put out the fire, but the fire quickly spread.
Wilkins believes that an accelerant was used. He hopes someone’s surveillance camera captured anything that might explain the cause of the fire.
To make matters worse, Wilkins’ wife was in the hospital when this fire occurred.
He told 7News how everything unfolded.
“It was on fire, and I found that to be kind of amazing, how that caught on fire,” said Wilkins.
He said he first tried extinguishing the flames himself.
“I took my hose, as you can see, and I took it and started to spray the front tire of the big truck there. What happened, I put that out, and then I moved this truck, and then I went to try and spray some water to maybe see if I can put some of this out, the fire, but it started to gulf up. The rear was burning on the driver side, and I don’t know if you can see, it looked like something coming down there, and I don’t know, don’t understand.”
The good news for Wilkins is that his wife was able to pull through, and he is hopeful that she will fully recover. He also hopes to figure out how this incident started and to recover from this fire.
“Anyone who has seen anyone suspicious who was around walking or something, maybe, or just come forth and let law enforcement know because this ain’t good,” said Wilkins.
If you have any information on this fire, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.
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