Who would do such a thing?

Who would set fire to George H. W. Bush's house in Odessa, Texas?

It was one of the houses in which former President Bush and his family lived in Odessa and which had been restored and relocated to a spot behind the Presidential Museum.  And last week the house was damaged by fire.  See City Of Odessa News Release (pdf):  "Fire investigators have determined the structure fire at the former home of President George Bush located at the Presidential Museum, 4919 East University, was intentionally started."

And see this from the Odessa American:

Firefighters were called to the restored Bush home at 3:04 a.m.  Early investigation shows the fire likely started on the front, concrete porch near the wooden doorway, Odessa Fire Marshal Detra White said.

The front and back doors and the front window were boarded when I visited.  But a walk around reveals some of the things that fire investigators may have looked at to make the determination that the fire was intentionally set.

In the photo on the left, notice the "V" shape of the fire damage on the wall to the left of the front door suggesting that the heat spread upward from a point on the porch.  And you can also see a charred spot on the cement porch that could be the spot where the fire investigators thought the fire originated.  So one possible assumption is that an accelerant was poured on the cement porch and set ablaze.  But a chemical analysis would be necessary to confirm that.

Also of interest is the porch light fixture which you can see lying on the porch in the shadow of the vertical metal porch decoration.  The porch light fixture was probably attached to the wall above the door at a point which is now obscured by the board.  I point this out to demonstrate just how difficult a fire investigator's job is.  Check out this site and scroll down to the photos at "Figure 8 Below: Fire, Exterior Light Fixture" to see how similar the results of a fixture light fire are to the scene at the Bush house.

So right about now you are probably asking, "Who the heck do you think you are?  Some kind of a Monday morning fire expert?  No.  And I didn't even stay at that hotel that makes someone a smarty pants.  But one session of the Midland, Texas, Citizen Fire Academy which I attended a couple of years ago was about fire investigations.  It was taught by MFD Fire Inspector Michael Cota, and for such a short class it was extremely educational.  And there's a wealth of information on the subject available on the internet.  If you are interested here are a few particularly useful sources:

Arson Detection for the First Responder - Homeland Security 2002 (pdf);

The National Fire Investigator -  Fall 2005 (pdf); and

Interfire Online Pocket Guide to Accelerant Evidence Collection excerpts.

Finally, to see a video showing the fire damage to the inside of the house click this Odessa American video.

Comments

[Jeff]

George, if you could ... let folks know that the Presidential Museum is seeking donations of all kinds - including volunteer time - to get their Bush Home back in shape.

[Geo]

Great suggestion, Jeff. Here's the link if anyone is interested in helping:
http://www.presidentialmuseum.org/