Katrina evacuee jailed after apartment blaze

PROVO — A Hurricane Katrina evacuee was arrested Monday in the possible arson of an apartment building that destroyed nine units and caused more than $300,000 damage.

The man had been evicted from his apartment at 455 N. 400 West and was told to have his belongings removed from the premises by Sunday. He allegedly started the fire in his second-floor unit at Shadowood Apartments around 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

The man is being held in the Utah County Jail on $500,000 bail.

Two weeks earlier, the man was arrested for alleged possession of methamphetamine. Provo police said they pulled the man over for a turn signal violation, began investigating him for a DUI and found a plastic bag containing white crystals in the vehicle he was driving. The contents of the bag tested positive for meth.

Charges have not been filed in either case.

According to Provo Fire Chief Coy Porter, the man used some type of accelerant, such as gasoline, to start the fire in his bedroom. The fire then spread to the attic, destroying at least nine apartments. The remaining 12 units in the building also received minor smoke and water damage.

"The fire went very, very quickly, due to the accelerant that was poured into the apartment," Porter said. "It caused (the fire) to get up into the attic very quickly."

According to Porter, residents of apartments that sustained only minor damage should be able to return to their apartments within the next day or two, once electricity is restored and gas lines have been checked.

The occupants of the other nine apartments will not be able to return until extensive renovation is completed, he said.

Porter said there isn't any common ductwork connecting each unit, which means the spread of the fire was not because the building wasn't in accordance with Provo fire code. However, the attic is common across the ceiling, which caused some concern that the fire would spread across the complex.

Porter said fire officials are continuing to investigate the source of the arson. Samples from the flooring will be taken and sent to the state lab to confirm the presence of the already-assumed accelerant.

"There's still a lot of work to be done to build this case up, but most of that evidence was collected (Sunday) night," Porter said. "Now it's mostly the follow-up interviews."

KSL-TV said the man being questioned had walked up to the station's reporter Sunday night and asked what was going on. A Provo policeman standing nearby then took him for questioning.

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Contributing: Amy Choate

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E-mail: jpage@desnews.com