Dog Day Afternoon

Phoenix Fire Department spokesman Bob Kahn says those canisters never entered the master bedroom. One reportedly bounced off a balcony rail and landed in the yard, and the second hit the arcadia window, but did not enter the bedroom.

Despite the highly suspicious fact that the fire erupted minutes after the tear gas was fired into the house, the Phoenix Fire Department's preliminary report is blaming a lighted candle located near the bed in the master bedroom for sparking the blaze.

Jackie Mercandetti

An Ahwatukee residence looked more like a war zone, following a MCSO strike.

Jackie Mercandetti

Fire ripped through the Ahwatukee home, leaving it a complete loss.

Related Content

• Joe Arpaio on Blast by Tom Perez, Courtesy of Dennis Gilman
  May 11, 2012
• Joe Arpaio/MCSO Lawyer Explains Some Actual Objections to Justice Department Monitor
  May 14, 2012
• Joe Arpaio and MCSO Officially Sued by the Justice Department for Racial Discrimination
  May 10, 2012
• Justice Department Lets MCSO Know It's Suin', While Joe Arpaio Releases Booklet Detailing How His Office Ought to Operate
  May 9, 2012
• Bill Montgomery Rushes to Arpaio's Aid — Just As Disbarred Predecessor Andy Thomas Used to Do
  April 12, 2012

More About

• Justin Delfino
• Joe Arpaio
• Eric Kush
• Government and Politics
• Armed Forces

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

"The cause was probably the candle on top of the refrigerator knocked onto the bed by either the pit bull or the occupant," Kahn says.

Kahn says fire investigators were told by MCSO Detective Mike Traverse that Kush reportedly stated that there was a "lit aromatic candle located on the refrigerator next to the bed."

Investigators, Kahn says, found a wax residue near the corner of the bed where the refrigerator was located.

Barker isn't buying this explanation.

She repeatedly told me during two interviews that there was not a lighted candle in the bedroom. She says the aromatic candle was located in the bathroom, but that it was not lighted.

"The only thing I had on my refrigerator next to my bed was an alarm clock and some pictures," she says.

Barker says she knew the MCSO fired at least two tear gas canisters at her bedroom window based on information she derived from sitting in the SWAT command vehicle.

She says she "heard it break the window."

"Two or three minutes after they shot it into the room, we had a fire in the master bedroom," she says.

Barker believes at least one canister landed on the down comforter on her bed and set it on fire.

Last week, I entered the burned-up house through an open front door. It was clear the fire started in the master bedroom, and there was a huge hole in the floor beneath the bed. It appeared that Dre fell through the floor and landed in the kitchen, where the dog was covered by charred debris.

There were other holes in the floor where a canister could have possibly ignited a fire, burned through the floor and fallen into the kitchen below.

As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter whether a candle or a tear gas canister started the fire that burned the house and killed the dog.

There would have been no fire if Arpaio's overzealous and unsophisticated SWAT deputies hadn't needlessly launched a dangerous assault in a densely populated area. Such operations should be reserved for the most dangerous situations, where innocent lives are at stake.

In this case, there was one guy with a misdemeanor warrant holed up in the house. He hadn't fired a single shot. He wasn't threatening anybody. There were no hostages. There was no clear indication that the house was full of heavy automatic weapons.

All Arpaio's deputies had to do was show a little patience and a modicum of common sense.

But these are traits that neither Arpaio nor his deputies seem to possess.

Instead, an entire neighborhood was subjected to a dangerous assault that left children traumatized, residents furious, and a puppy on fire.

"It was totally uncalled for," says Gene Delfino. "You don't go hunting for deer with a tank."