$1,000 reward offered in Alpin Haus fire

PHOTOGRAPHER: Bethany Bump

Alpin Haus is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of whoever set a fire at its Montgomery County store last week.

Three campers burned to their chassis and four others were damaged in the May 1 fire at the outdoor recreation store on Route 5S in the town of Florida. The fire started in the parking lot around 1:30 a.m. and had already engulfed a motor home by the time Fort Hunter firefighters arrived. No one was injured.

Alpin Haus advertised the reward on its official Facebook page this afternoon, asking anyone with information about the arson to contact the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office at 853-5500.

State and Montgomery County fire investigators were at the taped-off scene last week, but were unable to comment on the cause of the fire or whether foul play might have been involved. Montgomery County officials were not available Thursday evening, but Alpin Haus President Andy Heck said investigators gave him the go-ahead to post a reward in the case, which they believed to be arson.

“We know, just from being in the business, that things like this just don’t happen,” he said. “There was no power to the coach. It was in a fenced-in part of the lot. We had probably 40 or 50 more outside the fenced-in area. And our cameras can see vehicles coming in and out of the lot. So there are a lot of reasons that support this being suspicious.”