Lake Stone Camper Fire Under Investigation As Arson

September 29, 2021

A fire that destroyed a camper early Saturday morning at Lake Stone is under investigation as an arson.

“We are investigating this fire as an arson,” Lt. John Bell of the Florida Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives Investigations told NorthEscambia.com Tuesday. “Due to this being an active investigation I am unable to provide any further details at this time.”

Other campers at the lake told NorthEscambia.com that they saw a gas can that did not belong near the camper after the fire, and they believed there may have been an attempt to block the camper doors from the outside. Those details have not been confirmed by the fire marshal. Escambia Fire Rescue and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office referred us to the state for additional comment.

Bell said anyone with information about the incident should call 1-877-NoArson (1-877-662-7766).

The fire was reported about 1:20 a.m. Saturday in the campground area of the park just outside Century. The camper was reported to be fully involved when the first fire units arrived on scene. There were no injuries reported.

The Century and McDavid stations of Escambia Fire Rescue and the Flomaton Fire Department were dispatched to the fire.

Last year, two campers belonging to the same person were destroyed by fire.

In January 2020, a camper belonging to an 80-year old man burned. The cause of that fire was preliminarily determined to be a space heater. By February, he had moved into a used RV that was destroyed by fire in February 2020. The cause of that fire was never announced.

NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

10 Responses to “Lake Stone Camper Fire Under Investigation As Arson”

  1. Winand Adrienne on October 25th, 2021 8:38 am

    I stayed there once. It’s a horrible place with a horrible manager. I was going to stay a few days but the manager and the people one spot away kept harassing me and basically ran me off. In the course of 2 hours I was approached 4 times about
    My dogs were on leash, a grill I was cooking on, my canopy, my Clam being a so called tent, and on and on. I feel like it was his “buddies” one spot away complaining cause they didn’t want me in that spot, cause I was far from the manager house.
    While I had my dogs on leashes, they did not!!!!

    WHAT A DUMP and a JERK manager. I’m from this area and I’m not the only one who’ve had problems with him……..

  2. billy on October 24th, 2021 3:43 pm

    i believe after reading the article the person with 3 campers burned to the ground is not welcome there.i agree with cameras maybe check ex wife or ex girl friends

  3. SM on October 23rd, 2021 6:53 pm

    This isn’t just arson. This should be investigated as attempted murder.

  4. Terry on October 23rd, 2021 9:21 am

    Man, I hate to hear this. We had planned to stay a week on the first of November at this campground. We sure can’t afford to stay there now with someone burning down campers. We stayed there several times last fall and loved it but.. can’t take a chance. Such a shame. Beautiful place. :(

  5. Dave Coleson on September 29th, 2021 9:23 pm

    According the the FBI, arsonists have a low IQ, typically between 70 and 90. One in four are below 70 IQ which means they are mentally challenged. This is from the FBI 1987 Bulletin.

    So arsonists are not very smart. Arsonists is typically a difficult crime to solve because most of the evidence is burned up. However with cameras and accelerant dogs, they are now becoming easier to solve.

    Arsonists is specifically heinous because a death by fire is especially gruesome. The arsonist needs to be found and arrested.

  6. Jb on September 29th, 2021 1:15 pm

    @yarddog
    Who lives there year round other than the carw taker and host?
    Concrete pads are 2 weeks max
    30 days is on the grass
    Who has special priveleges?

    The person whos rig burned up wasnt there but 2 days? Is that year round? Special privileges?

    God bless the ones who lost rig and they escaped without too much injury

  7. CK on September 29th, 2021 11:11 am

    Sounds like they need to set up some cameras around there.

  8. rational on September 29th, 2021 9:29 am

    Duh, they should be investigating all of the 3 fires. Sounds like an arsonist is running around.

  9. DH on September 29th, 2021 8:52 am

    Could possibly be the same person as last year. They have Pyromania or is an Arsonist – Pyromania is a psychiatric condition dealing with impulse control. This type of person purposely sets fires, derives pleasure, a rush or fascination from fires or sets fires to improve one’s circumstances as receiving money to buy a better structure. An arsonist sets fires for the purpose to cause damage and destroy it. Either one is committing a criminal act.

  10. YardDog on September 29th, 2021 6:27 am

    Why are a few allowed to live in the campground year round other than the camp host while the rest have to leave after a set out amount of days are up? It seems the others who have special privileges are going to wind up burning down the entire campground before its over with.