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A Ulysses man has been arrested and charged with an arson, which occurred at approximately 11:44 a.m., April 25, to a mobile home at 743 Glenn Court in Ulysses.
The name of the individual arrested has not been officially released.
"We are withholding their identity until formal charges are pressed through the Grant County Attorney's Office," said Ulysses Chief of Police Ron Vagher. "We have not completed all of our investigation on this case."
On the Grant County Law Enforcement Police Blotter, there is one person who was arrested for arson - Moises Armenta. Armenta was arrested at 11:25, April 25. It does not state how old Armenta is. The police blotter also says there were three 911 calls regarding the fire -one at 11:42 a.m., and two others at 11:43 a.m.
Vagher said the initial call they had received was for a "residence on fire".
The fire to the residence, a mobile home, was taking care of fairly quickly by emergency responders with only two nearby homes requiring evacuation for safety reasons.
"There was some things that happened just right to keep it from spreading to surrounding houses and buildings," Vagher said. "It was pretty well contained. The fire department did an excellent job getting there and making sure it didn't go any further."
Vagher said when emergency personnel arrived at the scene, they determined it was, in fact, a working fire.
"It was inside the residence," he said. "The residence had been being lived in, but no one was inside when responders arrived."
Grant County Fire Chief John Crosby said there were about eight firemen who responded to the call.
"We got there probably within five minutes of receiving the call, Crosby said. "We had two fire trucks and didn't have a lot of people - maybe eight at the most. During the day we have a problem with manpower. A lot of the guys - their jobs don't allow them to take off to go to a fire."
Crosby said it took them around two hours to make sure everything was out. However, he, himself, was there until around midnight.
"We secured the scene and were waiting for the arrival of the Kansas State Fire Marshal Investigator," he explained.
The Fire Marshal was called in due to what local responders were seeing.
"There were some conflicting stories we were given that didn't match up to what we were seeing," Crosby said. "We called the fire marshal for that reason."
Vagher said the fire marshal arrived later that night.
"It was determined through our investigation that the fire was intentionally set," Vagher said, adding they do not know exactly what was used to cause the fire, as they are still waiting on the official report from the fire marshal.
"We would have to wait on their report to definitively say how it was started," Vagher said.
Five officers from the Ulysses Police Department responded to the scene. A neighbor in the area was grateful they were there.
Asking not to be identified, and visibly still shaken up over what had happened, she recounted what happened.
"When the police came to the door they said there is a fire next door and you need to evacuate," she said. "I told them, 'okay, let me get my husband'."
The woman's husband has a walker to assist him in getting around, so evacuating would take some time.
"I told my stepson to take the puppies and go to the big truck - I handed him the keys for it," she said. "I was helping my husband out the door when (Detective) Carlos (Salinas) came to the door and said again that we needed to evacuate."
She said the moment she explained they were trying to, but her husband had a walker, he immediately took action.
"(Salinas) said okay, and boom he was up on the porch with me to help me," the woman said. "We got my husband down the porch and in the truck. In the meantime, one of my dogs got loose and I looked at the police officers and said please don't put them in doggie jail. They said 'not a problem', and not to worry about it."
The dog was later found and returned to the woman unharmed.
Relieved that her family was okay, the woman said through it all she was clinging to faith.
"I was saying, 'oh God, Jesus, please protect my house'," she recounted. "(Afterwards) my house does not even smell like smoke - praise God."
The woman said she and her family left for awhile and when they came back - she was grateful for the responders and "the good Lord himself."
Emergency responders were able to keep the situation under control.
"The only thing that sustained damage was the residence that was on fire," Vagher said.
Vagher said they don't have an estimate on damages as yet, but he foresees the mobile home will most likely be a "total loss".
Crosby concurred.
"The interior of the trailer is pretty much trashed," Crosby said, adding they were unable to make contact with the owner of the home until around 5 p.m.
Emergency Medical Services also responded to the call with an ambulance and two personnel, but no injuries were reported from the incident and no one was transported.
According to Vagher, the investigation was done as a joint effort between the Ulysses Police Department, Grant County Fire Department, and the Kansas State Fire Marshal's investigator.
Crosby said the Fire Marshall investigator responded from Harper County, so it took her around four hours to arrive at the scene.
"When she got here she did her investigation and it all fit together and we knew we needed to really pursue this."
Vagher said it was "hectic" for a bit, but it all worked out and concluded with an arrest.
Responders were on the scene for around 12-15 hours. Atmos Energy sent personnel to the area, according to the distraught neighbor, and shut gas off for awhile as a precaution.
Crosby said there have been a few other fires around town that have been "suspicious".
"People need to keep their eyes open for anything suspicious - be watchful," Crosby said. "If you see something - report it to the police. I'm glad we were able to catch the one we think is responsible for this one. We had a good outcome - everybody worked together."
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