Arsonists lit four fires at Rifle businesses early this morning igniting explosions at a gas station and destroying a bowling alley that was being remodeled.
“I don’t think they had any particular method to their madness,” said Larry McCown, who sold the Rifle Fireside Lanes three months ago. “Who could have such a grudge against a bowling alley?”
No one was injured in any of the fires but power went out throughout most of the city. The suspect or suspects started in the north end of the town and worked south, McCown said. It appeared random because none of the businesses have common owners, he said.
Firefighters were called to Rifle Fireside Lanes at 3:07 a.m. when half the building was engulfed in flames, according to a news release.
Jack Bowles had been working day and night remodeling the bowling alley and was close to reopening the business, McCown said. He had been there until 11 p.m. Sunday night, he said.
Forty-seven minutes after the bowling alley fire was reported, another call came in at an apartment building construction site at Meadow Circle and Highway 13. A police officer responding to the fire was able to put it out with a fire extinguisher, Rifle City Manager John Hier said.
Then, 44 minutes after the construction fire, an explosion was reported at an Amoco gas station at 100 Railroad Ave. The building was completely destroyed, Hier said.
A fourth fire was also reported at Mi Hacienda, a bar and dance hall that has been vacant.
Firefighters from nine surrounding city and district fire departments rushed to the fires, officials say.
The electricity was restored to city residents by 7 a.m.
A task force involving the Rifle police department, the FBI and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation is investigating the fires.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
