Break-in costs Alice Springs business $25k after machine destroyed in fire

A BREAK-IN has cost a business owner about $25,000 after an expensive piece of machinery was set on fire

A break-in has cost an Alice Springs business owner about $25,000 after an expensive piece of machinery was set on fire

A BREAK-IN has cost an Alice Springs business owner about $25,000 after an expensive piece of machinery was set on fire.

Tru Track Alice Springs owner Les Smith said the offenders jumped over the barbed wire fence and started a fire out the back of his shop where the truck tyre machinery was.

“They started the cover on fire and they built a little fire underneath the machine,” Mr Smith said.

“It got burnt and now we can’t use it.”

Mr Smith said he has been a resident for about 45 years.

“I never thought this sort of thing would happen to me but it has so I’m pissed off.

“That small fire could have started all the other tyres on fire because they were in close proximity and the whole shed could’ve went up and eventually the service station next door could’ve gone up.”

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Mr Smith said sometimes plastic crates in the area get burnt.

“It’s only a matter of time before something major happens,” he said.

Police attended the scene and are investigating the incident.