UPDATE Officials are still investigating a fire that damaged a cell tower in Andover, KS last week. KAKE-TV reported the cell tower that was set ablaze was in a park in the city, located in Butler County and east of Wichita. What caused the fire is not yet known.
No one was injured, and the cell tower remained standing. T-Mobile owns the damaged tower, though it has said that the impact has been minimal, with other nearby towers able to provide service instead.
Inside Towers has reported on cell towers that have been attacked in the past. Earlier this year, a man from San Antonio, TX, pled guilty in federal court in San Antonio to eight charges in two indictments related to arson and felon in possession of a firearm, according to Data Center Dynamics.
Sean Aaron Smith tried to damage and destroy by fire multiple cellular telephone towers around San Antonio between April 2021 and May 2022, until his arrest in the same month. He could get 140 years in prison following the plea, as he faces a penalty of five to 20 years in prison for each charge related to arson. Court documents showed that Smith holds anti-government views, while he had a “mission” to burn down 5G cell phone towers, reported Data Center Dynamics.
During the height of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, there were several false conspiracy theories shared online suggesting that 5G was causing the spread of the virus, Inside Towers reported. It led mobile operators to urge the conspiracists to stop attacking the infrastructure and spreading misinformation on the internet. In 2020, a man from Liverpool, England, was sentenced to three years in jail for setting fire to a telephone mast due to his belief that 5G was linked to the Coronavirus.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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