Arson

He set a fire in a Sedgwick County jail van and tried to escape. On Friday, Eli Edwards is sentenced for the 2009 crime. A judge handed down Edwards a punishment of 20 and a half years (247 months) in prison. There were five other inmates in the van when the incident happened. They weren't found to be involved. Its still unknown how Edwards started the fire.

Most volunteer firefighters such as Jerry McMillian say they do it to help people. "It takes it out of you," McMillian says.  "It's a physcial challenge.  It's a mental challenge. " But McMillian says there's also the excitement of fighting rapidly moving, potentially deadly fires.  Reno County Deputy Steve Lutz says that may be what motivated 20-year-old Cody Knox who investigators say set fires, only to turn around and help put them out. "Sometimes you get a couple of them that are in it for the wrong reasons, and they need a little more excitement," Lutz says.  "I don't know if that's his reasoning or not, but that is something that has happened in the past.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) - A Stanton County high school principal is on trial in Johnson County on charges of aggravated burglary, arson and criminal damage. The trial began Monday for 36-year-old Craig D. Butler, who has been suspended with pay from Stanton County High School in Johnson. The charges were filed before Butler was hired as principal there. The Hutchinson News reports that Johnson County authorities allege that Butler burglarized the home of his wife in Olathe, and setting fire to his wife's car and damaging some of her property.

Still smelling of smoke, evidence of what investigators are calling an arson, sits along side a Park City street Friday afternoon. "We haven't slept too much in the last couple nights," explains Fred Smith. He and his girlfriend woke up to police pounding on their door early Wednesday morning. "Lisa went to the back door and the Park City Police Department jerked her outside saying, 'your house is about to go up in flames.'" A neighbor got video on his camera as fire crews worked to put out two burning trucks in front Smith's house.

Douglas Belt was sentenced to death in November of 2004. He was convicted of Capital Murder, Attempted Rape and Aggravated Arson in the death of Lucille Gallegos. Gallegos was found decapitated in an abandoned apartment in June 2002.  She worked at the apartment complex as a housekeeper.   Convicted in November 2004 of capital murder, attempted rape and aggravated arson in the killing of Lucille Gallegos in west Wichita.

A home in western Kansas catches fire, killing a mother and  three children.  That happened Saturday morning in Scott City. One of the children died at the scene. The mother and the two other children were flown to Wichita where they died later that day. The children ages ranged from 4-8. Authorities tell eyewitness news that one child was the mothers and the other two were her boyfriends. Officials have ruled out arson and are still looking into a cause. The Hutchinson News reported the fire started in the laundry room of the two-bedroom home.

Fifty-six year-old David Konert has been arrested by Salina police in connection with a recent arson spree. The homeless man was charged with 13 counts of arson. Police say they received calls of fires breaking out that spanned from late Monday night into early Tuesday morning.   At 6:40 Tuesday morning, Salina police received a call for two garbage can fires at this Sinclair gas station. Shift manager Michelle Thomas described the scene. "They could of blown up the gas pumps you know!

Since the beginning of August, Bob Pritchard has been hard at work around his Hutchinson home.  When he's not repairing the damage done by one of four arsons, he's waiting for the next one to spark. "I usually get up twice during the night and make my rounds,” Pritchard said. Hutchinson fire investigators are looking into five suspected arsons on Leonard Street.  Pritchard's two-week-old shed was the most recent victim.  Fire investigators say someone set it on fire Wednesday.

The State Fire Marshall's Office says the home explosion in Downs last Friday was arson.  58-year-old Nyla Powell was in bed when the explosion happened. She's now listed in fair condition at a Wichita hospital. Powell was rescued by a neighbor who was driving by shortly after the explosion happened. The house was engulfed in flames and is a total loss. The Fire Marshall says they are now conducting a criminal investigation into the cause along with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.