Fort Bliss Monitor

Arsonist strikes Bliss
Fire causes extensive property damage

Virginia Reza
Monitor Staff

Arson has been determined by the Criminal Investigations Division to be the cause of a fire in Bldg. 1033A, Headquarters and Headquarter Battery, 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade. On April 30 at 3:56 a.m., the Fort Bliss Fire Department responded to a call from the military police of visible smoke in the building. Upon arrival, heavy smoke was visible and indicated a fire. Robert Moralez, FBFD assistant chief, saw the intensity of the blaze and called for backup. It took approximately an hour and 42 minutes to extinguish the flames. No injuries were reported and more than $300,000 is the property damage estimate.

According to Henry A. Garciasalas, special agent, CID, accelerants were used to start the fire in multiple locations. He thinks the assailant, or assailants, targeted the orderly room and the supply room and that the motive was probably revenge. Garciasalas mentioned the arsonist, or arsonists, were not experts because they left evidence behind, which has been sent to an out-of-town laboratory with results pending. He said they have been conducting interviews and have come up with possible suspects. A $20,000 reward has been offered and posted by CID.

“Our station is only two blocks away and it took us only four minutes to get there. By the time we got there, there was a lot of fire burning … it should have not spread out that fast. A normal fire would have been confined and controlled a lot quicker than what it took us to put it out,” said Moralez.

The building is considered as a business occupancy area. Therefore, smoke detectors were not installed. It is a one-story structure and was constructed in 1999.

Billy Cannedy, FBFD fire chief, said it requires a certain degree of experience and expertise to understand the signals of the burning building.

“My firefighters read the signs in Bldg. 1033A and understood what the building was saying. The amount of heat that was building up, they read the flashover situation and ventilated the building to ensure no firefighters were injured,” said Cannedy. “Although the fire was intense and the damage was grand, the fire was put out before it spread to the other rooms within the building.”

The incident is currently under investigation.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	May 12, 2005

<map name="boxmap-b4"> <area shape="rect" coords="0, 589, 120, 600" href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" > <area coords="0,0,10000,10000" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=&creative=92501&camp=8117&link_code=dl1&path=subst/misc/amazon-cobrand-cc/v3/marketing-from-associates-step1.html/ref%3Db1_assoc_29" > </map>	Arsonist strikes Bliss Fire causes extensive property damage Virginia Reza Monitor Staff Arson has been determined by the Criminal Investigations Division to be the cause of a fire in Bldg. 1033A, Headquarters and Headquarter Battery, 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade. On April 30 at 3:56 a.m., the Fort Bliss Fire Department responded to a call from the military police of visible smoke in the building. Upon arrival, heavy smoke was visible and indicated a fire. Robert Moralez, FBFD assistant chief, saw the intensity of the blaze and called for backup. It took approximately an hour and 42 minutes to extinguish the flames. No injuries were reported and more than $300,000 is the property damage estimate. According to Henry A. Garciasalas, special agent, CID, accelerants were used to start the fire in multiple locations. He thinks the assailant, or assailants, targeted the orderly room and the supply room and that the motive was probably revenge. Garciasalas mentioned the arsonist, or arsonists, were not experts because they left evidence behind, which has been sent to an out-of-town laboratory with results pending. He said they have been conducting interviews and have come up with possible suspects. A $20,000 reward has been offered and posted by CID. “Our station is only two blocks away and it took us only four minutes to get there. By the time we got there, there was a lot of fire burning … it should have not spread out that fast. A normal fire would have been confined and controlled a lot quicker than what it took us to put it out,” said Moralez. The building is considered as a business occupancy area. Therefore, smoke detectors were not installed. It is a one-story structure and was constructed in 1999. Billy Cannedy, FBFD fire chief, said it requires a certain degree of experience and expertise to understand the signals of the burning building. “My firefighters read the signs in Bldg. 1033A and understood what the building was saying. The amount of heat that was building up, they read the flashover situation and ventilated the building to ensure no firefighters were injured,” said Cannedy. “Although the fire was intense and the damage was grand, the fire was put out before it spread to the other rooms within the building.” The incident is currently under investigation.