Police officer smells smoke, prevents large blaze

A Maricopa police officer helped prevent a large fire from breaking out Wednesday evening at a partially built residence in the Homestead subdivision.

Maricopa Police Department spokesman Ricky Alvarado said the officer was driving near Smith Enke Road and White and Parker Road around 10:40 p.m. when he smelled a “strong odor of smoke” in the area. The officer followed the smell to a nearby neighborhood where many homes are still under development.

The officer spotted flames and smoke at the back of a wooden-frame house under construction in the 4000 block of West Robbins Drive, Alvarado said. When he got to the residence, the flames were beginning to spread up a 2-by-4 piece of wood.

While the Maricopa Fire Department was responding to the scene, the officer used dirt to extinguish the flames, he said.

Fire spokesman Brad Pitassi said when firefighters arrived, the fire was “99 percent” out. He described the blaze as a “small fire.”

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Pitassi said the department’s fire investigator said the blaze is “suspicious in nature.” The house had yet to be outfitted with wiring.

All signs point to arson, but authorities said there are no witnesses or suspects at this time.

“It really doesn’t get more dangerous than lighting fires in structures,” Pitassi said, adding this is especially true for homes under construction. If the officer hadn’t been in the area, he said other homes nearby could have caught fire.

Pitassi said it’s been a long time since the department responded to a fire at a home under construction, and the fires they have responded to have been accidental.

The department’s investigator will keep this incident in mind if any future fires seem suspicious, he said. More unusual fires could possibly be linked.