Alleged arsonist identified, pleaded guilty to arson in the past

TOOELE COUNTY — Investigators say the fire that burned nearly 200 acres, evacuated homes and contaminated a town's water supply was arson.

Officials reported a man was in custody Wednesday night and cooperating with police after crews spent hours fighting the fire.

Timothy Devone West, 27, was booked into Tooele County Jail late Wednesday night. A search of court records revealed West pleaded guilty to two class A misdemeanor arson charges in Tooele County in 2010 and two class B misdemeanor arson charges in South Jordan in 2011.

West was identified in a joint investigation by the Stockton Police Department and the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.

"Oftentimes an arsonist might set more than one fire before they're caught," said Jason Curry, public information officer for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands. "In this case, we wanted to be very thorough and cover everything and, of course, the result was an arrest."

Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands spokesman Jason Curry confirmed a fire broke out in Tooele County near Stockton around 2 p.m. and spread quickly. An evacuation order was issued for the city of Stockton Wednesday afternoon and will remain in effect for about 10 homes overnight.

"It took off real quickly. The winds were really strong. So in light fuels, as we call them, or grasses, it doesn't take much," said BLM spokesperson Teresa Rigby.

Originally officials estimated the fire had burned around 400-500 acres, but after an aerial survey, they estimate that fire burned around 179 acres.

As of 9 p.m., the fire has been 75 percent contained.

Some sheds have been destroyed and three houses have been damaged cosmetically, but no houses have been destroyed as of 10:30 p.m. Curry said they don't expect any homes to be destroyed unless the wind shifts and the "worst is over."

A water tank that is part of the city's water supply was damaged, and the Tooele County of Emergency Management asks residents not to drink the water in Stockton until they can test it.

"We just want to make sure that we're safe. So we're going door-to- door right now letting the residents know not to use the water," said Stockton Mayor Mark Whitney.

Residents can pick up water with their own containers at the Stockton LDS Church and Town Hall until further notice from the county health department.

Residents are thanking firefighters for stopping the blaze from reaching their homes.

"The flames, they probably went about 3/4 of the way up the telephone poles," said resident Ben Cordova. "Everybody thought that the whole town was gone up here, and we actually got pretty lucky."

In some instances, crews stopped the fire just short of homes. In one case, the first almost burned a circle around a home, but the blaze was diverted and the barn on the property was destroyed.

Neighbor Amber Christofferson couldn't believe what she saw.

"(The fire) was right around (the house). It got so close to the propane tank, it's a miracle that her house isn't damaged at all," Christofferson said.

Resident Nicole Barns said this is the second recent fire that has touched her family. Everything the family saved from one fire was not being threatened by another.

"Knowing that things that we saved from one fire could be lost in another fire is terrifying," Barnes said.

The Red Cross is moving displaced residents out of Stockton, and they opened a center at an LDS church in Tooele at 253 S 200 East.

Stockton is a town of about 615 people located 10 miles from Tooele on state Route 36.

During the day about 120 firefighters helped battle the blaze. One crew will stay overnight to keep things in check, then 50 firefighters will return in the morning to monitor any flare ups.

"You think about how quickly the fire started, that's how quickly it can kick back up," Rigby said.

Contributing: Faith Heaton and Andrew Adams

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