Indiana firefighter charged with setting his own home on fire. Also accused of battling firefighters trying to put it out.
Excerpts from an article by Sophia Voravong at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Indiana:
A Lafayette firefighter has been charged with intentionally starting a blaze last fall that severely damaged his rural Battle Ground home.
Eric W. Tendam, 40, was arrested that day after allegedly ripping a fire hose from a firefighter’s hands and throwing another firefighter’s helmet into the burning, two-story residence.
He was charged Thursday with two counts of arson, one a Class B felony and the other a Class C felony; and misdemeanor offenses of obstructing or interfering with a firefighter, criminal mischief and possession of marijuana.
He was the only person home when the Tippecanoe Township Volunteer Fire Department was called to battle a blaze at 834 E. County Road 725 North the morning of Oct. 17.
Journal & Courier photo from the October 17 fire.
Flames were visible from the front of the home. Material also was burning in a nearby fenced area outside and in the back of a pickup truck in the driveway.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the charges in Tippecanoe Superior Court 2, authorities suspect the fire was intentionally set based on burn patterns consistent with having flammable liquids applied.
Jim Lewis, an investigator with the Tippecanoe County Fire Investigator Team, noted that parts of the home smelled of gasoline and that the carpet was burnt in a line from the back door to the bedroom and into the dining room.
Tendam is accused of telling firefighters that the home was not worth saving, according to the affidavit, which was signed by Detective Tom Lehman of the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Department.
Tendam has been with the Lafayette Fire Department since 1996. Chief Jim Morrow said the department’s Fire Merit Commission will decide Thursday what, if any, discipline Tendam faces.
A closed-door hearing, related to the October incident at Tendam’s home, was held Wednesday.
