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San Marcos apartment complex fire that killed 5 was intentional

LonghornSean

By LonghornSean
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LonghornSean

LonghornSean 3989

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$10000 reward for information related to the July 2018 fire at Iconic Village and Vintage Pads apartments 

 

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10:30 a.m. update: A fire that erupted at a San Marcos apartment complex in July, killing five people, was determined to be intentionally set, federal officials said Friday morning.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has officially classified the deadly blaze that occurred at the Iconic Village apartments as incendiary, which means it was intentionally set, and have opened a criminal investigation. They are asking for the public’s help finding whoever is responsible and offering a $10,000 reward.

“We are confident that there are individuals that have heard something before this happened or since this happened that will help in the investigation,” ATF special agent in charge Fred Milanowski said.

https://www.statesman.com/news/20181129/today-authorities-to-provide-details-in-deadly-san-marcos-fire

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Authorities on Friday could provide new information about the origins of a July fire that ripped through the Iconic Village and Vintage Pads apartments in San Marcos, killing five people.

The San Marcos Fire Department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will give an update on the incident at 10:30 a.m. The American-Statesman will be streaming the update live on Facebook. Click here to watch as updates come in.

Federal investigators said in a statement Thursday that they would be offering a reward for information that leads to an arrest, suggesting that they believe that the fire was started on purpose.

The public briefing on Friday will be the first update officials have given since July when the fire tore through the apartment complex, killing 19-year-old Haley Michele Frizzell, 21-year-old David Ortiz, 20-year-old Dru Estes, 23-year-old James Miranda and 21-year-old Belinda Moats, most of whom were Texas State University students. The families of all five victims have filed lawsuits over the incident.

The fire also displaced around 200 residents at the complex, which is just north of the Texas State campus and near the intersection of North LBJ Drive and Ramsay Street.

Former residents and those living at the complex when the fire happened said their smoke detectors were faulty. Sarah Christie said her roommate was home in their apartment on the second floor of Iconic’s Building 500, which had the most damage, when they were woken up by screams instead of smoke alarms. Building 500, Building 300 and Building L were affected by the fire.

“He opened his door and the fire was already in the living room, so he jumped out the window,” she said. “The main problem, I think, was that there were no fire extinguishers or sprinklers.”

San Marcos Fire Marshal Kelly Kistner said the buildings did not have sprinklers in place because they were built in 1970 before code required them, and the complex was never required to install them. Elevate Multifamily took over management of the complex in June 2017 and said every smoke detector in every unit was inspected regularly to test functionality. Building 500′s detectors were last inspected May 4, Building 300 was inspected May 9 and Building L was inspected on June 27, according to Elevate Multifamily.

Fire extinguishers, placed in the breezeways of the Iconic complex, were last inspected Jan. 8 and are managed by Safequip Safety and Fire Equipment, according to Elevate Multifamily.

Texas law requires every property to have a working smoke detector on move-in day, said David Mintz, vice president of government affairs for the Texas Apartment Association. But tenants are typically responsible for replacing batteries in detectors and reporting any issues to the apartment employees, he said.

The city of San Marcos adopted the International Fire Code in 2015, city records show. Under the code, no fire protection can be out of service or go unfixed without the approval of a fire code official.

 

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Dennis Taylor

Dennis Taylor 18811

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More info including suspects name

 

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Hays County Jail records show 30-year-old Jacobe Ferguson was booked into the facility Wednesday on a charge of arson causing serious bodily injury or death, a first degree-felony for which he faces life in prison.

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/crime/2023/07/05/arrest-san-marcos-apartment-fire-village-vintage-suspect/70385520007/

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Helobious

Helobious 9451

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Suspect was a Texas state student at the time of the fire and resident of iconic village apartments, although he did not live in the building where the fire started. He was one of many interviewed by investigators after the fire but was no more a suspect than anyone else apparently. Authorities not saying what caused them to zero in on him now.

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105083

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4 minutes ago, Helobious said:

Suspect was a Texas state student at the time of the fire and resident of iconic village apartments, although he did not live in the building where the fire started. He was one of many interviewed by investigators after the fire but was no more a suspect than anyone else apparently. Authorities not saying what caused them to zero in on him now.

So, I mean....nothing about motive, or how they caught him?  Super-informative, thanks cops.

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Helobious

Helobious 9451

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Arrest documents reveal more. Ferguson was broken up with by a woman who was moving out of that building. She left his mattress out in the breezeway. Apparently he lit the mattress on fire and it took the whole building with it. 
 

https://www.kvue.com/amp/article/news/crime/mattress-iconic-village-apartment-fire-san-marcos/269-984311fd-4bdd-45f2-9807-c554ec134fc1

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