2 U. fraternity houses damaged in arson fires, police say


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SALT LAKE CITY — Two fraternity houses were damaged in arson fires at the University of Utah early Friday.

No one was injured in either incident. But Kevin Shields, chapter president of Beta Theta Pi, said the fires went way beyond the level of a college prank.

"It's kind of sinister, honestly. Thankfully, nobody was sleeping in the basement last night. But if somebody was trying to run outside to escape the fire, they would have run right into … our doormat on fire outside the door," Shields said. "You're playing with people's lives at this point."

Firefighters were first called at 4:13 a.m. to the Pi Kappa Alpha house, 1431 E. 100 South. Someone likely used the fire escape to enter an unlocked door on the third floor that led into the recreation room, poured some type of accelerant and then lit it on fire, said Salt Lake fire spokesman Jasen Asay.

"The fire pretty much destroyed the entire room with various recreational equipment inside, including a pool table," he said.

Fire and water damage was contained mostly to that room, though there was smoke damage throughout the house, Asay said. Seven or eight people who were sleeping at the time were awakened by smoke detectors and got out of the home safely.

About 15 minutes later, while crews were still battling that fire, they received a call of a second fire at the Beta Theta Pi house around the corner, 70 S. Wolcott (1455 East).

In that incident, Asay said someone got into the house through an unlocked door and lit several small fires in a basement laundry room. An overhead sprinkler system was able to knock down most of the flames before crews arrived, he said.

Another fire was lit outside the door, according to the fraternity.

Ten people were asleep in the house when that fire started. They, too, were awakened by smoke detectors and able to get out safely, Asay said.

Shields said his fraternity house was remodeled three years ago and was up to fire code, which included the sprinkler system.

"It could have been much, much worse," he said of the damage.

Shields said other than both being fraternities, he did not know of any common thread between the two buildings.

"We have no idea who wanted to do this or who could possibly do something so cruel," he said.

Arson investigators brought a K9 into both fraternities to sniff for accelerants, such as gasoline.

"The K9 did have several hits in each of the fraternity houses for the accelerant," Asay said. "We don't know if it's one suspect, or if it's multiple people that are responsible."

Investigators were able to collect surveillance video from nearby homes and were reviewing it Friday. No arrests have been made.

Anyone with information about the fires can call 801-799-3000.

Investigators received positive hits from an accelerant detection K-9, indicating an accelerant was used to start both fires. ... (1/2) — SLC Fire Department (@slcfire) July 3, 2015

**Contributing:** Geoff Liesik

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