Hildale youth sentenced on three counts of arson
 
By Patrice St. Germain
patrices@thespectrum.com
 
ST. GEORGE - A Hildale youth was sentenced last week in juvenile court after admitting to three counts of arson over a period of four months at his family's home.

Washington County Deputy Attorney Angela Adams said the youth admitted to the charges and a psychological evaluation was ordered.

The boy was released from Dixie Area Detention Center last week following his court appearance where he was ordered to 150 community service hours, counseling and to obtain a general education diploma.

Adams said the youth, who turned 18 after the last incident on Sept. 17 destroyed the family's home, was held in the detention facility rather than Purgatory Correctional Facility while awaiting results of the psychological evaluation.

The other two incidents took place on June 21 and July 24.

The first fire resulted in an estimated $30,000 worth of damage, mostly confined to an upstairs bedroom. The second fire caused approximately $16,800 in damage to a laundry room.

The September fire resulted in extensive damage to the upper floor of the home and water damage to the lower floor.

The fire cause and origin were investigated jointly by the Hildale Fire Department and Utah Fire Marshall's Office.

The house was under the jurisdiction of the United Effort Plan Trust, the financial arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, whose members live predominately in the Hildale and Colorado City area.

Bruce Wisan, appointed by the court to oversee the finances of the UEP, said the house was demolished before he was informed by the city, fire department or the person living in the home.

As the fiduciary, Wisan has authority over all real property owned by the UEP and oversees the housing, land and equipment owned by the trust.

Wisan said the home was not insured although he had attempted to find a company to insure homes in the twin cities.

"I had a broker in St. George that spent considered time and effort to get insurance for the community and sent it out to a number of companies, but frankly, no one was interested. Not even in giving a quote," Wisan said.

Wisan said the home was condemned and he did not receive notification of the demolition or reports on the fires until early October.

"This is clearly against the court injunction that work was done without proper notification," Wisan said. "It seems to me to be a problem."

Not only was Wisan not notified, but neither was the Division of Air Quality.

Any time a home is demolished, even if burned in a fire, the division is to be notified so the house can be inspected for asbestos before demolition takes place.

Sarah Malluche, environmental scientist with the division, said even if the house is completely burned, soot samples can be taken to test for the presence of asbestos, which would require special removal of the remains.

"It (removal of the house) did not follow proper regulations because there is nothing in our database, so someone probably did not submit notification and the house should not have been demolished without it," Malluche said.

Malluche said the division even requires notification from fire departments if they are burning a home as part of a training exercise.
 
TheSpectrum.com
Originally published November 23, 2006
 
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