Vandals go on $800k spree

Heavy equipment torched at trails

January 24, 2006

MARY AMES/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - A small business took an estimated $800,000 hit when someone torched its equipment on the Crevasse Moraine Trial system.

Two employees of Denali Drilling went to work Jan. 16 and found their tracked vehicles, large Nodwells, and the equipment with them, had been set on fire sometime over the weekend, according to Alaska State Troopers.

&#8220It's a tremendous loss,” said Hal Ingalls, CEO of the company. &#8220The Valley is my home, I grew up there. I'm surprised it happened there. The big thing is, we've talked to a number of people about these kinds of crimes, I guess they are really increasing.”

Ingalls said one of the Nodwells had just been rebuilt and had a drilling rig mounted on it and the other had been rebuilt three or four years ago, and had a compressor mounted on it. His company rebuilds its own Nodwells because of the high cost of replacement, he said.

&#8220Just looking at the equipment, not including the welders and the chain saws and all the other things that go with the job, this is a loss of about $800,000,” Ingalls said. &#8220This is a major loss that jeopardizes the employment of people, a lot of them in the Valley, and the stability of the business itself.”

The rigs were in place to drill test holes for the Mat-Su Borough's waste site and the job wasn't finished, Ingalls said. Borough Manager John Duffy was not available Monday afternoon to discuss the nature of the work being done there and a borough spokesperson did not immediately return a call requesting clarification about the project.

It looked as if someone walking or on four-wheelers set the fire and had to work to get it going using the fuel in the Nodwells, Ingalls said.

&#8220It wasn't easy - they're diesel, not gas,” he said. &#8220It looked like they just came along and set them on fire.”

Denali Drilling will be offering a reward of at least $2,500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonists, Ingalls said. Several other people have donated money to the reward fund because of the severity of the damage and the loss.

&#8220We're not a big business,” Ingalls said. &#8220But this was a big hit.”

Property crimes made up slightly more than 24 percent of the felony filings in Superior Court cases statewide in 2004, and there were 121 cases filed in Palmer Superior Court that year, according to the 2004 Alaska Court System annual report. Felony filings in Palmer increased by 38 percent over the previous year, the report said.

Anyone with information on this crime is encouraged to call the troopers at 745-2131.

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.