Overview
- Surprise police responded around 1:30 a.m. Saturday to the ICE-owned warehouse, where agents noted a broken window and minor, limited fire activity.
- A DHS spokesperson said a person broke a window, ignited a fire, threw a propane tank inside, and fled as the building’s sprinkler system quickly extinguished the flames.
- FBI Phoenix is leading the case with ATF assistance, and no suspect information or arrests had been announced by Saturday afternoon.
- The Surprise facility, a roughly 418,000-square-foot warehouse bought in late January, is slated for conversion into a regional processing site with about 1,500 beds.
- The incident comes days after an attempted arson at a DHS office in Meridian, Idaho, where police say a suspect stole an ambulance, staged gas cans, and tried but failed to ignite an accelerant.