Man arrested in fire that destroyed vehicles

A Columbia man was charged Saturday in connection with a September 2005 fire that destroyed two personal watercraft, a trailer and a van.

Columbia Fire Department investigators and Columbia police arrested Eddy H. Barajas, 32, of 758 Demaret Drive, at a Wilson Avenue construction site Friday on a charge of knowingly burning or exploding, Battalion Chief Steven Sapp said.

Investigators and police were contacted last week by someone with information regarding the fire, Sapp said. After conducting interviews with more sources, “the information kept coming back to Barajas” and led to his arrest, Sapp said.

Sapp said that Barajas worked with the owner of the vehicles and that the fire was related to a work-site dispute.

Barajas posted a $4,500 bond and was released from the Boone County Jail on Saturday.

On Sept. 8, 2005, the Columbia Fire Department responded to the vehicle fire on the 4700 block of St. Charles Road. When firefighters arrived, the vehicles’ owner was trying to extinguish the fire with a garden hose. Fire investigators ruled out an accidental or incidental cause and concluded that the fire was set, Sapp said. He would not say how the fire was started. Damage was estimated at $15,000.