It was the middle of the night and Dawn Burton was sleepily nursing her newborn as her boyfriend, James Byrne, and their two other children slumbered nearby.
All of a sudden, she heard a popping sound. Their carport was on fire.
Byrne ran through the carport to grab a hose, desperate to stop the fire from spreading to their home, but also to save the belongings they'd stacked up in the carport while preparing to move.
He suffered second-degree burns to his scalp and shoulder for his attempts, which were only partially successful.
Today, the 20-year-old man responsible for the fire, Mark Kasic, will be sentenced by Pima County Superior Court Judge Clark Munger.
Kasic is one of a growing number of people being prosecuted on arson charges within Pima County. Three years ago, 10 people accused of setting fires were prosecuted by the Pima County Attorney's Office. Last year, 26 people were charged in 19 cases.
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The reason behind each fire is as varied - mental illness, domestic violence, insurance fraud, juvenile delinquency and thrill-seeking top the list - as the ways in which fires can be set.
Recent church fires on the metro area's northwest side are being investigated as hate crimes, but unless or until the arsonist is caught, the motive remains a mystery.
Kasic was one of Tucson's most prolific arsonists up until his arrest in September 2008. He is suspected of setting nine houses and two palm trees on fire between August 2007 and July 2008.
He was convicted of multiple felony charges during a recent trial, including those pertaining to the Burton/Byrne fire.
If Munger chooses to impose consecutive sentences, Kasic could receive more than 200 years in prison - and he still faces two more trials.
Kasic also has had two civil judgments filed against him, totaling more than $500,000.
"It's really by chance he's not facing homicide charges," said Deputy Pima County Attorney Malena Acosta.
Kasic's modus operandi was virtually the same in every case, Acosta said. He cruised neighborhoods near Sahuaro High School between midnight and 5 a.m. and selected a carport on a corner or in a cul de sac that was filled with combustibles. He'd then set something on fire using whatever was handy - brake fluid, glue, gasoline.
And then he'd watch.
After a year, investigators finally got lucky, Acosta said. He was seen.
Arson fires, by their very nature, are challenging crimes to solve, say Tucson police Detective Sean Garnand and Tucson Fire Department investigator Thomas Quesnel.
Homicide detectives often have a body and a bullet they may be able to trace to a gun and to a suspect, Garnand said. In arson cases, much of the evidence is consumed in the fire.
If investigators are lucky, a security camera or witness spotted something or DNA and fingerprints are left behind.
"It takes time to investigate these case," Garnand said. "In this field we run into the 'CSI' problem more than anybody else. People think we can go into a building and automatically see who did it."
When detectives investigate a fire, they have to figure out if a smoldering cigarette caused an accidental fire, if oily rags burst into flames or if someone purposely lit a match, Quesnel said.
At any one time in Tucson a serial arsonist is at work, whether setting Dumpster fires, brush fires or building fires, Quesnel said.
Often, arsonists simply stop before they get caught, Quesnel said.
They become scared, they move or they get arrested on other charges, he said.
The top misconception about arsonists is who they are, Quesnel said.
"It can be your everyday, plain person," Quesnel said. "We also have female arsonists."
Since 2007, prosecutors have brought charges against multiple people who set fires while drunk or under the influence of drugs because they were angry with loved ones. In a handful of cases, people set fires to vehicles they had stolen, houses they had burglarized or people they had killed.
Joseph Zephirin Moquin was sentenced to 10 1/2 years in prison in March for trying to kill his mother. Court documents say Moquin has been setting fires since he was 11, and he set his 83-year-old mother's attached utility room on fire hoping she'd be overcome by the smoke. Despite using a walker, she was able to escape.
Moquin, 56, confessed after setting several Dumpster fires and being found naked at the scene of one.
There were at least two recent cases in which people set fire to their cars because they couldn't afford the payments.
Earlier this month, Dinh Doan admitted he set fire to his nail salon in October 2009 because it was failing. He could be placed on probation next month or receive up to 3 3/4 years in prison.
He got caught because a witness saw smoke and flames coming out of the salon and someone parked outside in a BMW sport utility vehicle, according to court documents. When police reached his house they found him suffering from burns, the roof of his BMW SUV was still warm and he had a gas can and kerosene.
Quesnel, who has been investigating fires for 17 years, said it's crucial for police, firefighters and prosecutors to work as a team and respond quickly.
And sometimes, as in the Doan case, they get lucky and find someone with flash burns and gasoline on their shoes.
As for Kasic, Quesnel said the community is lucky.
"He's the most prolific I've seen," Quesnel said. "He seems like he knew exactly what he was doing. We're lucky someone didn't get killed."
On StarNet: View an interactive map of daily crime in Tucson at go.azstarnet.com/crime
Where there's smoke
Arson cases filed by the Pima County Attorney's Office*
2007 - 10/10 defendants
2008 - 18/19 defendants
2009 - 19/26 defendants
*Some cases involve multiple fires.
Source: Pima County Attorney's Office
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com
