Family claims arson after NC farm equipment destroyed in four different fires

VALE, N.C. (WJZY) — A Catawba County family has turned to the public for help in solving not one — but four instances of what they believe to be arson.

Authorities have been called to the Calderon’s property in both Lincoln and Catawba County four times in the span of three months for fire-related instances.

“I don’t like looking over my shoulder, because I haven’t done anything wrong,” explained Martha Calderon.

She and her family have lived along Cooksville Road in Vale for more than two decades, where they grow, harvest, and sell a variety of produce within the community.

“We have people who are depending on us to move forward,” she said of their business.

However, they had spent the past two and a half months crawling out of a hole made by a series of setbacks.

Between February 6 and April 1, four fires were set, which involved their farmer equipment and storage facility.

On Feb. 6, the family was on their way back from vacation when they were notified that their main warehouse had gone up in flames.

This is where they housed farming equipment used daily, business documents dating back decades, and even gifts their family members had received from their wedding weeks prior.

Calderon said that “everything was gone.”

It was just days later, on Feb. 11, when the family woke up to the sound of Catawba County Fire trucks on their property as firefighters fought a blaze involving a forklift.

On March 4, they were called back out to the news that a trailer used to haul produce was set on fire.

The last call came into Lincoln County crews, about a field tractor being set on fire along Houser Farm Road in Vale.

The price tag of the damage is close to $500,000, she claimed.

Calderon said she believes each one was intentionally set.

“We’re looking over our shoulders and everything, thinking, ‘When is the next time?’ But we can’t just stop.”

Law enforcement confirmed, and an investigation is ongoing.

Calderon, however, believes she knows who is behind the suspected arsons, but does not have enough proof for an arrest.

She’s now hired a private investigator, J.P. Investigative Group, Inc., and is offering $10,000 of her own cash to help get justice.  

“That’s money we have to work for,” she said. “That’s money which could’ve gone to something else. Could’ve gone to our children.”

If you have information, you’re asked to contact local authorities or the private investigator.