Fire damages Food Bank fleet, refrigerator early Saturday.

UPDATE: March 23, 4:30pm

Video evidence from a neighbor shows an individual setting the fire at the Food Bank, according to Salinas Fire Battalion Chief Brett Loomis.

The video, taken at night and at a distance, is not detailed enough to reveal any identifying information about the suspect—not even whether the person is male or female, Loomis says. The person, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and pants, appeared to case the Food Bank's loading dock several times around midnight before igniting a stack of wooden pallets.

"We expected they were in the wings watching, and when the fire didn't ignite as they wanted to, they returned three times, adding materials to the stack," Loomis says. All physical evidence was consumed in the fire, he adds.

He encourages anyone with information to call Salinas Police at (831) 758-7250, or Salinas Fire at (831) 758-7261.

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Original post: March 23, 11am

In the early hours of Saturday, March 21, a fire ignited in the truck loading dock at the Food Bank for Monterey County in Salinas, spreading to the organization's entire fleet. 

The fire completely destroyed four refrigerated trucks and damaged several more, according to Food Bank Executive Director Melissa Kendrick. It also burned the dock, leaving the Food Bank with no way to receive or distribute food.

As a result, the Food Bank is closed today. But Kendrick says her team is working on a contingency plan.

"We are going to do everything humanly possible to be up and running as soon as possible, because 20 percent of the Monterey Couny population depends on us, and over half of those we serve are children," she says.

"The thought that one person will go to bed hungry because of this, especially a child or senior, is killing me."

Kendrick estimates the damage at close to $1 million. Her team is now asking the community for "desperately needed funds." Donate at http://www.foodbankformontereycounty.org. 

According to Salinas Deputy Fire Chief Jesse Piñon, firefighters responded to a reported pallet fire at 12:38am. When they got there, they saw the Food Bank's multiple 24-foot trucks on fire. There were explosions, and flames licking the  building. The firefighters called for backup, and the two responding engines grew to eight.

The firefighters quickly extinguished the fire and left the scene by 2:30am, Piñon says. The department has not yet determined the fire's origins, but Kendrick says they're suspicious.