A suspect was arrested after a fire was started at a United States Postal Service mailbox in Phoenix, Arizona, in the early hours on Thursday morning. The fire caused damage to roughly 20 electoral ballots.
According to Fox 10, a fire was started just prior to 1:30 a.m. on Thursday morning outside a Phoenix post office. While Phoenix Fire Department crews were able to extinguish the flames after quickly responding to the scene of the fire, multiple electoral ballots and other pieces of mail were damaged before the fire was extinguished.
Phoenix Fire Department officials said, “Approximately 20 electoral ballots were damaged, along with additional miscellaneous mail.” Officials also indicated that an unidentified suspect started the fire at the USPS collection box before quickly fleeing from the scene, according to ABC 15.
“The Postal Inspector took possession of the damaged ballots and mail,” Phoenix Fire Capt. Rob McDade said in a statement obtained by Fox 10. “The Phoenix Fire Investigations Task Force, which includes Phoenix Police detectives and Phoenix Fire investigators, are working with US Postal Inspectors.”
Following the fire, a United States Postal Service spokesperson told ABC15, “This does not happen often and is rare.”
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In a Thursday post on X, formerly Twitter, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego explained that the suspect who started the fire outside the post office had been arrested due to “swift action” by the Phoenix Police Department and the Phoenix Fire Department.
In a statement obtained by ABC News, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, addressed the postal box fire, saying, “I’m deeply troubled by the arson attack on a USPS collection box in Phoenix. This deliberate act of vandalism undermines the integrity of our democratic process.”
The United States Postal Service released a statement on Thursday, assuring people that inspectors were working with the local election commission to “ensure any affected election mail is remedied and that other mail is routed to the appropriate parties.” The United States Postal Service encouraged people to contact their local election office if they believe their mail-in ballot could have been affected by the fire incident.
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican, also encouraged voters who used the affected United States Postal Service mailbox to “check the status of their ballots at https://BeBallotReady.Vote.”
