200 left homeless after fire chars UA-area apt. complex

Ian Mayer Arizona Daily Wildcat Sky View Apartments resident Stacy Cheifetz (left), a junior studying psychology, speaks with Area Supervisor Glenda Wenzel yesterday regarding the details of the fire at the complex. The fire was started early Tuesday morning by a flaming paper airplane.

The fire was set in the lobby of Sky View Apartments, 1050 E. Eighth St., at 1 a.m. and spread to the walls and ceiling of the first floor before firefighters responded, Tucson Fire Department Capt. Brian Delfs said.

"They had the fire knocked down three minutes after they arrived," he said.

Tucson police yesterday arrested Randy Stuth, 20, of the 7400 block of South Avenida Bellaza, in connection with the fire. Stuth was arrested at the apartment complex about 7:30 a.m. on suspicion of arson and criminal damage.

Stuth told detectives he lit a paper airplane on fire and flew it through the building's lobby, but didn't realize the flaming plane ignited a nearby chair until he came back minutes later and saw a blaze, said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, a Tucson police spokesman.

Delfs said most of the residents left right after the fire to find lodging with friends or relatives, and firefighters escorted about 80 people back into their rooms to get some of their belongings before going to a shelter the American Red Cross set up at Catalina High School, 3645 E. Pima St.

"It was cold (yesterday) morning and we had a lot of people sitting around in shorts and no shoes, so we called in heated Sun Tran busses (to take them to the shelter)," Delfs said.

American Red Cross spokeswoman Kate Diamond said that as of yesterday afternoon, five people were still in need of lodging, so volunteers moved them to a different shelter at Roskruge Middle School, 501 E. Sixth St.

Delfs said residents were not able to return to their rooms yesterday because of damage to electrical and fire alarm wiring in the ceiling.

Sky View manager John Andes said residents won't be able to move back in for several days. There was no damage to individual apartments or personal belongings, he added.

Initial estimates valued the damage at $5,000, Delfs said. Insurance agents will determine the actual cost to repair the damage, Andes said. Business freshman Emma Ching, who lives in a first-floor apartment, said yesterday she was able to go to her room to get books and other materials she needed to prepare for an accounting exam today.

"But we can't stay here," she added.

"At first I thought someone was playing with the fire alarm again, but then I smelled smoke and there was black smoke in the hall," Ching said. "I had to climb out of my window."

Scott Streule, a business and public administration junior, said the management had just painted and placed chairs in the lobby in an attempt to "spruce the place up."

"It's a shame because they were trying to remodel it - and now this happens," he said.

When told by a firefighter that he would be able to go to his room and grab what he needed for the next couple days, anthropology freshman Jeff Stobbs replied, "I don't get to live in my house tonight? This is weird. This is messed up."

Stobbs said he would stay with his girlfriend, and was a little baffled by the fire and other recent incidents occurring at the apartment complex.

"A lot of weird stuff has been going on lately," Stobbs said. "Somebody greased the stairs and my friend fell down them; [there is] a lot of tagging; and people keep throwing things into the pool."

Farhad Kiaei, an Iranian exchange student studying chemical engineering at the University of Arizona, said he and his sister Pani would have to contact the Red Cross or find a hotel room for the night. While leaving the complex yesterday, Kiaei simply described the charred lobby as "pretty smelly and dark."

His sister Pani, a molecular and cellular biology sophomore, agreed.

"It's ugly," she said. "We thought it was just a small fire, but it's ruined."

Pima County Jail officials said Stuth was in custody yesterday and was released to Pre-Trial Services.