Posted on 02/19/2006 5:41:56 PM PST by SandRat
Five Rancho Sahuarita homes that were under construction were destroyed Friday night in what officials are calling suspicious fires.
The Rural/Metro Fire Department began receiving multiple 911 reports just before 11 p.m. of several homes on fire off of South Rancho Sahuarita Boulevard, south of West Sahuarita Road, said Battalion Chief Rick Flores, a department spokesman.
When firefighters arrived, they found five homes that were under construction fully engulfed in flames, he said. Officials suspect that the homes were set on fire one by one.
It took more than an hour and a combined 40 firefighters from Rural/Metro and the Green Valley Fire District to get the two-alarm blaze under control, Flores said.
Sahuarita town officials said on Saturday that they were concerned about the fires but do not see a need for increased security in the fast-growing area, about 20 miles south of Downtown Tucson.
"I am concerned about it, but the thing that I am most concerned about is the fact that two of the homes were separated by a street from the other three," said Town Manager Jim Stahle. "Although we do not know the cause, that seems like it would indicate a high likelihood of arson."
Stahle added that the Sahuarita Police Department might consider doing more active patrols in the area, but he could not say for sure if that would happen.
"This is an uncommon event, and we will keep an eye out to make sure it remains an uncommon event," he said. Damage is estimated at $100,000 for each home, Flores said. Stahle said they were being built by KB Home Inc. No cause has been determined because of the number of homes that were involved.
"Whenever we have five homes go up in flames, we are dealing with five separate fire scenes that have to be investigated," Flores said. "It takes up a lot of our resources."
An arson task force — consisting of several area fire departments, the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — is investigating, he said.
The task force is also using an arson dog that specializes in the detection of accelerants, Flores said.
No injuries were reported and no occupied homes were in any immediate danger, although strong winds did force firefighters to fight the blaze more aggressively to keep it from spreading, Flores said.
More than four years ago, four Catalina Foothills luxury homes under construction were torched. The fires were determined to be arson, but no arrests were made.
* Contact reporter Alexis Huicochea at 629-9412 or ahuicochea@azstarnet.com.
ELF
Of course, converting these evil wood-framed homes into hydrocarbons and airborne toxins was good for Mother Earth. (and now more trees must die) /sarcasm
Houses had to go. They were blocking the migratory paths of the Greater Sonoran Scratchbacked Jailbird.
Or maybe a construction worker who got fired?
Find out who the perps are, and burn THEIR houses down.
It could have been the contractor burning the homes.
Maybe they didn't have any buyers and what with the housing slump starting and all thought it was a good idea to cut their losses.
Well, 11 from the Northwest are! It's taken awhile but the ones responsible for the SUV dealership going up in flame multiple times times are now either in jail having confessed for a lighter sentence by ratting on their pals or in jail awaiting trial.
Now to keep rounding them up.
No! Make them live in caves, not allowed to burn anything, only able to eat dead grass, must use dead leaves for cloths and must walk at all times. I would suggest Idaho for their homes.
By Thomas Stauffer
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.20.2006
Fire investigators at a Phoenix crime lab will study samples from five homes under construction in Sahuarita that were destroyed Friday night by what appears to have been five separate fires, a Rural/Metro Fire Department spokesman said.
"It's very suspicious due to the fact that all five units were fully involved when firefighters arrived, and that they appear to have been set one by one," said Rural/Metro Battalion Chief Rick Flores.
Samples from the five homes were collected and sent to the Arizona Department of Public Safety crime lab in Phoenix, Flores said.
Damage from the fires is estimated at $500,000 — $100,000 per home, he said.
Rural/Metro received several 911 calls at about 11 p.m. Friday reporting the fires near South Rancho Sahuarita Boulevard, south of West Sahuarita Road, Flores said. Forty firefighters from Rural/ Metro and the Green Valley Fire District had the fires under control in about an hour, with no reported injuries or damage to other structures, he said.
The burned homes were part of the Presidio del Cielo community being built by KB Home Inc., said Tia D'Ambrose, public relations manager for KB Home.
All but one of the homes, which were in various stages of framing, had been purchased.
D'Ambrose said the company is still in the process of contacting all the affected homeowners, and that all the houses will be rebuilt.
Three of the homes were on one side of the street — a street that has yet to be named — while the other two were on the opposite side, Flores said.
The homes were about 10 feet apart, and though strong winds could have been a factor in spreading flames, it appears that the five homes were separately set afire, he said.
Anyone with information on the fires is urged to call 88-CRIME.
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