William J. Sikorski, 65, according to an article in the Benson, Arizona BensonNews-Sun, trapped a skunk in a dog food bag near his home in Fairbank, Arizona (map). He then set the bag on fire, but the skunk, with his fur burning, ran away into the brush. Of course the brush caught fire, threatened nine homes, and spread into an auto salvage yard where 20 cars were destroyed. Firefighters from several departments and the BLM responded, along with air tankers from Willcox. They put the fire out after 26 acres had been charred.
Mr. Sikorski was arrested and charged with reckless burning and cruelty to animals, said sheriff’s office public information officer Carol Capas. It turned out that he also had some outstanding warrants issued by the Marsha’ls Office.
I thought about adding this to our “animal arson” series, but it does not exactly qualify.
A bit ironic that his last name is Sikorski.
Yes — but I have a feeling the person who set the skunk on fire is not related to anyone smart enough to have designed and flown the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, the first viable American helicopter, which pioneered the rotor configuration used by most helicopters today — Igor Sikorsky.