"It really does not make a lot of sense to attack that area," he said. "Animals are not being mistreated there."

According to documents, a BYU police officer questioned Burrows and another man at the scene of the fire. Burrows told the officer he and his roommate stopped to watch the fire, and he gave police his birth date and address.

Investigators searched the address Friday, two weeks after the fire, and found a tool identical to one taken from the farm, animal-rights literature and a bird cage identified as one taken from the farm the night of the fire, documents state.

Burrows will be back in federal court Thursday afternoon for a detention hearing and arraignment. He will remain in the Salt Lake County Jail until then.

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E-mail: awelling@desnews.com