Hays Post
The City of Russell Fire Department is seeking assistance finding a suspect or suspects who have set fire to portable toilets in the city of Russell and Ellis county.
Fire Chief Dylan Riedel posted on Facebook today that a portable toilet had been set on fire on July 4 near the Playpark in Russell.
On Saturday night, July 4 the Russell City Fire Department was dispatched to the area of 526 E. Parkside, near the Playpark, for a report of an unknown trash can fire, the Facebook post said.
Crews arrived on scene and quickly extinguished the fire. During the investigation, it was determined that the object on fire was not a trash can, but a portable restroom that had been placed at the ball fields for the recreational ball season, the post said.
When crews attempted to extinguish the fire, it reacted violently with water, indicating that some type of accelerant had likely been used to start the fire, the Facebook post said.
This fire is part of a pattern of portable restrooms being set ablaze over the past few weeks, including two incidents in Ellis County and this incident within the city of Russell, the Facebook post said.
The city of Russell Fire Department is seeking any information regarding individuals seen in or fleeing the area of the Playpark between 11:30 p.m. and midnight on July 4, Riedel said in the post.
If you have any information or security camera footage from the area during that time, please contact Fire Chief Riedel at 785-483-7129 or by email at dylan@russellcity.org.
All information will be kept confidential to the extent permitted by law, the post said. Even seemingly minor details may assist in the investigation.