By PAUL JARVIS
A man is in the Intermountain Burn Center at the University of Utah Hospital after receiving burns over a large portion of his upper body Sunday. Police suspect that the man is connected to the arson of an Orem condominium complex that is under construction at 1164 W. 400 North.
“He is definitely our main suspect,” said Lt. Bob Conner of the Orem Police Department. “He has not been officially charged yet because we are waiting to see what condition he will be in.”
The suspect ran one block to the yard of Orem resident Marjorie Nelson and attempted to cool his skin with water from a garden hose.
“He came to my door and called for help,” Nelson said. “He wanted me to call 911.”
Nelson tried to gain an understanding of what took place so she could tell 911 dispatchers helpful information.
“All that I could get out of him was that he had gas on his arm and that he had tried to light a cigarette,” Nelson said. “You could tell that he was in shock. I would have done more, but I was in somewhat of a state of shock myself.”
An ambulance appeared on the scene within three minutes of the emergency call.
“The paramedics cut all of his clothes off and began taking care of him,” Nelson said.
Nelson wishes there was more she could have done for the burned man.
“I’m sorry that we couldn’t have done more before the ambulance arrived,” Nelson said. “He just kept saying, ‘How long am I going to be like this?'”
Fire damage to the condominium was extensive but did not spread further than one condominium.
“I would estimate that there is about $10,000 to $15,000 in damage to the unit,” said Jimmy Zufelt, the owner and developer of the complex.
Zufelt felt grateful the damage was not worse.
“The heat actually melted some pressurized plastic water lines that began to spray water and helped to put out the fire,” Zufelt said. “It could have been a $750,000 fire if the building had burnt to the ground.”
The suspect vandalized some of the other units before setting the fire.
“We noticed he also went into some others and started throwing things around,” Zufelt said. “He grabbed boxes of staples and other materials — whatever wasn’t nailed down.”
