Orrville area sees mysterious car fire

ORRVILLE — City firefighters put out something of a mysterious car fire Tuesday afternoon in a rural area just outside the city’s eastern limits.

Fire Chief Bob Ballentine said firefighters were called at 5:52 p.m. by a passerby who spotted a vehicle in flames and sitting on a trailer at the edge of a field near the intersection of Burkhart Road and Paradise Street Extension.

Ballentine said that, upon arrival, firefighters found a 2002 Jeep Wrangler fully involved in flames. The car had been loaded onto a trailer, but no one was around.

The fire was extinguished, and the car, which was a total loss, was transported to the North End Garage in Wooster, where it was impounded for investgation by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office and the State Fire Marshal’s office. The financial loss on the Jeep, Ballentine said, was estimated at about $3,000. The trailer was not seriously damaged.

Ballentine said it was later determined that the Jeep had been reported stolen earlier in the day from the parking lot of Timken Mercy Hospital in Canton.

The chief said he couldn’t guess why the stolen vehicle was towed from Stark to Wayne County and set ablaze, saying only that it might have been insurance fraud or a similar matter.

Firefighters remained on the scene until 7:49 p.m. There were no injures.

Reporter Paul Locher can be reached at 330-682-2055, or at plocher@the-daily-record.com.

CREDIT: PAUL LOCHER