Fighting a fire investigator with fire

We're not sure how we missed yesterday's news of the Harris County arson investigator's car that got torched in his driveway over the weekend — that's the kind of twist of fate that usually catches our eye immediately.

It happened at the inspector's house in the 3200 block of Barkers Forest early Sunday morning. The arsonists reportedly broke into the 2005 Ford Crown Victoria and stole several things, including the investigator's badge, a county-owned handheld radio and a shotgun and ammo, before setting the car on fire. Neighbors heard the car explode and called for help; volunteer firefighters showed up and put the fire out, but the car was totaled. "It was overkill," arson investigator Dustin Deutsch told the Chronicle.

County fire marshals don't believe the fire was randomly set: Some paperwork related to a couple of cases the investigator was working on was inside the car. Officials say they don't know how the suspects were able to track the car down, but a $10,000 reward is being offered to anyone who gives a tip leading to their arrest (if you know something, call the county fire marshal's office at 281.436.8000 or Crime Stoppers at 713.222.TIPS).

As bad as it was, all we can say is: Better the car than the house.