UPDATE on must see video: Father who fought with firefighters is now charged with arson. Two-year-old rescued from high chair in Elgin, Illinois.

Still pictures from fire including father’s arrest

We knew there was more to this story after closely watching the video above, but didn’t know exactly what was behind the actions of the man now identified as James R. Beavers. Officials in Elgin, Illinois now say Beavers, who fought with firefighters at the scene of the house fire (after they rescued his two-year-old son), set the house on fire. The home belongs to the parents of the 31-year-old Beavers.

Beavers is being held on $100,000 bond. Officials aren’t providing details on how the fire started. Besides arson charges, Beavers is accused of resisting arrest and two counts of obstructing a firefighter.

Beavers lived at his parents home with his wife and their seven children. Apparently, only Beavers and the tw0-year-old were home when the fire broke out.

Read more at DailyHerald.com and SuburbanChicagoNews.com.

Below is our earlier posting on this story:

I know we have been alerting you to a lot of must see video in recent days and we are in danger of overusing the phrase (just hype from those damn TV reporters). But this one sure is interesting.

In the first shot on the video, at six seconds in, you will see a firefighter coming out the front door carrying a two-year-old boy. The boy is reported fine following the fire Thursday afternoon at 517 Cumberland Trail. Firefighters were also able to rescue three of four dogs in the home.

According to news reports the child’s father and grandmother had escaped the fire, but the child was still inside. You see the father in a coat standing in the driveway pointing to firefighters and telling them something as the child is brought out and continuing to make his point afterwards.

At 2:05, now with the coat off, dressed in a t-shirt, the father notices the person shooting this video. At 2:15 the man confronts the photographer.

When he walks away from the picture taker, the father then gets into it with firefighters, marching up to the driveway (3:15) quite agitated. He appears to shove and push one firefighter (who does not appear to escalate the situation). At some point after police arrived the father was arrested.

Here are more details in excerpts from an article by Stephen Ross Johnson at SuburbanChicagoNews.com:

Elgin Fire Department Battalion Chief Terry Bruce said once emergency personnel arrived, they soon were informed by occupants that a baby boy remained inside, sitting in a high chair on the second floor of the tri-level home.

He said Elgin firefighter Kevin Hartmann went inside and was able to find and remove the child just as smoke was entering the room.

“The smoke was just starting to build up right near the baby,” Bruce said. “Another couple of minutes and the baby probably would have been overcome by the smoke.”

Three dogs also were rescued from the home, Bruce said, but a fourth was not recovered.

An already highly emotional scene became even more dramatic, Bruce said, when the baby’s father suddenly became irate and began to assault several firefighters, requiring Elgin police to restrain him.

Elgin Police Sgt. Dan O’Shea said the man, who had yet to be identified, was being detained as of Thursday evening. He said it was not known what charges would be filed, if any.

There is more about the fire in this excerpt from an article by Harry Hitzeman with DailyHerald.com:

The baby’s grandmother tried to put out the fire when it started, but she had to leave the home, Bruce added.

The blaze, which started in the first-floor bedroom that belonged to the boy’s father, was brought under control in about 30 minutes, Bruce said.