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PROVO — Police are seeking the public's help in identifying a person of interest in a suspicious fire that broke out in Provo Tuesday.
Provo detectives released photos from surveillance footage Wednesday morning that show a man buying gasoline from a 7-Eleven located at Geneva and Center Street at 4:47 a.m., just over a half hour before the suspicious fire started.
The fire was ignited in an abandoned home at 1587 W. Center at 5:23 a.m. Tuesday and was the second fire in this home since April.
"A person might have a legitimate excuse of buying gas at that time of the morning — either ran out of gas or needed it for his lawnmower. We don't know, but we would sure like to talk to him," said Deputy Chief Tom Augustus from the Provo Fire Department.
Investigators have not determined the cause of Tuesday's fire, but they believe it may be connected with the previous arsons at and near the home in April, said Provo Fire Chief Gary Jolley.
In March and April, Provo had 16 structure fires, mostly in abandoned buildings. The house that burned down Tuesday morning was scheduled to be torn down later that day. And investigators don't believe that is a coincidence.
The fire department investigated the fire today before tearing the house down as planned.
"We brought the dog down and she did hit on several places, both inside and out, so this is a suspected arson," Augustus said.
He said it will take some time before they can pinpoint exactly what accelerant was used, and if it indeed was gasoline.
"Things don't happen like on 'CSI' where it takes 20 minutes, it takes two to four weeks to get the results back. So when we get those results back, we will be able to confirm quite a few things," Augustus said.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is offering a $5,000 reward for information that solves the arson cases in Provo.
Those who recognize the man in the photos should call the Provo Police Department at 801-852-6210.
