March 22, 2010

Mystery surrounds the burning of a local armored truck

By Phil Speake. Police say they still don't have any idea what caused the fire of an armored truck that caught fire last weekend on Interstate 270 in Montgomery County. "My assumption is some kind of oil leak," said Lt. Iris Click, commander of the Maryland State Police Rockville office. "All we did was handle the car fire…it was fully engulfed in flames." The truck was apparently transporting money to a Frederick depot. Authorities have not said how much.

Maryland State Police responded to the scene and managed to get the fire under control. The United States Secret Service was also called in to assist with the situation. "I know of no reason for us to respond," a secret service spokesman said. "In sixteen years I've never heard of such a case."

Officials survey the scene after the fire was extinguished.

Officials survey the scene after the fire was extinguished.

The truck is owned and operated by Dunbar Armored, but officials with the company have refused to comment on specifics of the incident. State Police say they have no idea how much money was in the truck, or what other cargo there was in the vehicle. They also are unaware of what caused the fire. An eyewitness who was traveling behind the armored truck on I-270 says he saw something dragging on the bottom of the truck. The witness described what looked like a tailpipe, but it was flexible and causing sparks on the road. "After he [the driver of the truck] stopped it erupted quickly," said the eyewitness. Within a few minutes another armored truck pulled up on the shoulder a few hundred feet from the engulfed truck to assist the driver and other passenger of the truck. Dunbar Armored has a depot in Fredrick, which - according to officials - was most likely the intended destination for the truck. The witness says he saw what looked like management personnell looking over the burned truck after the fire was extinguished.

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