Investigators from the Tolleson police and fire departments and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determined a fire at a Mormon church last week was arson.
ATF officials are offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist or arsonists responsible, said Thomas Atteberry, special agent in charge of the Phoenix field division.
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Fire at Tolleson LDS church
Investigators have followed up on more than 100 leads and still are chasing others, but they do not have a suspect, officials said.
“There may be a witness out there who is reluctant to come forward,” Atteberry said. “We’re hoping this (motivates) them to come forward with information on this or somebody that knows something about it to come forward and receive $10,000.”
Brian Hoback, ATF National Response Team leader, declined to give specifics of the ongoing investigation, but he said six days of gathering and examining evidence revealed the fire had been set by human hands. He declined to say where the fire’s origin was, if there was more than one or how it was set.
“Only the bad guys and law enforcement know where the fire started, and that’s the way we’d like to keep it,” he said.
Tolleson firefighters responded to the church at the T-intersection of 95th Avenue and Pierce Street about 2:30 a.m. June 29.
Crews from Tolleson, Glendale, Phoenix, Avondale and Goodyear responded. Firefighters believed the fire was under control around 3:30 a.m. when a spark in the attic reignited the blaze. By 6:30 a.m., crews had the fire under control again.
The fire burned the entire south wing of the LDS church, believed to be the first in the West Valley. No damage estimates were available Friday, though ATF spokesman Special Agent Thomas Mangan said last week it appeared the entire building was lost.
In addition to the intentionally set fire, someone broke into the building and vandalized it, Atteberry said.
Tolleson Police Chief Larry Rodriguez said there hasn’t been any other significant vandalism or similar crimes in the area. No threats have been made against the church, and there is no indication it was a hate crime, the chief said.
He said ATF has taken the lead on the investigation and is working with Tolleson detectives.
Tolleson investigators requested the assistance of ATF because the size of the church and scope of the investigation were beyond the city’s resources.
The response team, tasked with investigating significant fire incidents such as the Oklahoma City bombing and the 9/11 Pentagon crash, consists of veteran fire origin-and-cause experts and forensic scientists.
