A series of vehicle fires remain under investigation by the Alabama Fire Marshall’s office.

Three Eastern Shore fire departments received calls early Saturday morning in which area residents reported vehicles on fire near roadways.

“I hate to see something like this happen,” said Fairhope Volunteer Fire Chief Kevin Hempfleng. “There will be serious charges, each of these fires is a felony, and there’s four of them.”

Around 4:30 a.m., the Fairhope fire department received the first call, Hempfleng said.

“Two vehicles, about 200 feet apart, were on fire at the northeast corner of 181 and 48,” Hempfleng said.

He described the vehicles as a 2004 Mustang convertible and a 2002 Chevrolet Silverado. Hempfleng said when the firefighters arrived, the Mustang was fully involved and the front end of the truck was on fire.

“It didn’t take long to get them out,” he said.

The department sent three trucks, one from each station, in response to the alarm, he said.

About 15 minutes after the the call came in at the Fairhope station, the Marlow Volunteer Fire Department received a call about a vehicle fire at County Roads 32 and 33, Hempfleng said. Around 5 a.m., the Barnwell Volunteer Fire Department was contacted about a vehicle south of County Road 32 on state highway 181, and sent one pumper to the sight.

Barnwell Fire Chief Roy Glenn described the vehicle as an Infinity. “It was burned around the wheels and side molding, but not fully engulfed,” Glenn said.

Hempfleng said their office contacted the state fire marshall’s office at 5:30 a.m. and State Deputy Fire Marshall Mike Talley was at the scene about 7.

Hempfleng said they had one witness who saw a vehicle in the area around the time of the fires.

“We suspect it was one group,” he said regarding the perpetrators.

The event was a new one for the departments, Hempfleng said they had experienced multiple garbage and trash can fires but not vehicles. He added that none of the burned vehicles were wrecked or abandoned.

“Three were parked by the owners and marked ‘for sale,” he said.

Because of the ongoing investigation, Hempfleng could not provide many specific details about the fires themselves, but he did say an accelerant was used to start them.

Anyone with information about any of these fires is asked to contact the Fairhope Police Department at 928-2136.