‘It’s just a burnt shell’: Owner speaks out after Springfield food truck destroyed in fire

A Springfield woman has a message for the person who set fire to her food truck trailer.

“Lord have mercy on your soul, because I know you over there on fire — burning and blistered up. And I hope it was worth it,” said Damaras Cavitt, the food truck’s owner.

Fire and police investigators combed the scene on Dayton Avenue around 7:15 a.m. Thursday looking for evidence from the fire that they’re calling ‘suspicious.’

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Part of the evidence investigators will be reviewing is video surveillance from one of Cavitt’s cameras. It shows a person enter the trailer with what appears to be a gas can.

Just seconds later, the door to the trailer opens, there’s an explosion and flames burst out. The person — covered in flames — gets out of the trailer, then runs out of view of the camera.

Fire officials have not said if the person seen in the video is a suspect in the fire — but Springfield Fire Rescue Division Capt. Jeff Powell said the video evidence should help solve the case, “pretty easily.”

Powell said the physical evidence collected at the scene will be sent to a lab for analysis.

Cavitt said she’s been working on the food truck since February, and was planning to use it to make an income.

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There was damage to the entire interior, which fire officials said was made worse by the grease trap inside the trailer.

“I’ve lost a lot of money. The cost of the trailer, the cost of supplies, the cost of paying people to come and do the job — now I have nothing. It’s just a burnt shell,” she said. “I’m astounded. I don’t know who would do this to me. I don’t even know who the person is!”

At the time of the fire, there were no reported injuries.

As of Thursday evening, no one had been arrested in connection to the incident. The fire remains under investigation.

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