Arson is suspected in fires that struck the Santa Cruz and Alcalde post offices Tuesday morning, according to the United States Postal Service.
Aaron Archuleta called 911 at 5:11 a.m. Tuesday when he went to the Santa Cruz Post Office and found the lobby filled with smoke. There were flames against a wall inside the building when Española firefighters arrived at the scene, Fire Chief John Kitchen said. A junk mail table and a trash can next to it were completely burned, and firefighters knocked down a wall to extinguish the small blaze, Kitchen said.
“They had it out in less than five minutes but it took an hour to get the smoke out,” Kitchen said.
Kitchen said arson was suspected because a box full of papers in the lobby was burning. The scene was turned over to State Fire Marshal’s office.
Postal inspector Amanda McMurray confirmed an accelerant was found at the scene.
The lobby area, which is always left unlocked, will remain closed until it is repaired, according to Santa Cruz Post Office Postmaster Joseph Valdez. Customers should pick up their mail at the Fairview Post Office until the Santa Cruz office reopens.
The Alcalde Post Office also did not open Tuesday morning because of a fire that was started in its lobby, McMurray said. After the fire, the doors were locked and handwritten signs announced the building was closed.
“Why don’t the signs tell us when they’ll reopen?” Kim Martin, of Alcalde, said.
The post office did open later the same morning because the fire set there was limited in scope, McMurray said.
“Both appear to be intentionally set,” McMurray said. “The indicators are it was a similar type of M.O. if you want to put it that way.”
No suspects were identified by Wednesday (2/25) morning.