Fire officials testify at trial of accused mother

PALMER -- State fire investigators testified last week the blaze that consumed the upper portion of Suzette Welton's duplex was ignited with the help of a flammable liquid that made it difficult to extinguish the fire.

Testimony continued into Monday with fire officials analyzing photos taken prior to the Sept. 15, 2000 fire at the Mulchatna Drive duplex and photos taken after the upper portion was destroyed. Fire Marshal Carol Olson remained on the stand for the better part of three days answering questions about how she reached conclusions that the fire was arson.

The four-man, eight-woman jury and four alternates heard intricate details about ceiling joists that normally would not be burnt if the "fire were behaving naturally." The tendency of fire is to expand out and up, not downward, Olson testified.

The state contends Welton, 38, poured gas on the upstairs hallway, and into the two bedrooms where her sons were asleep on the morning of Sept. 15, 2000. She is accused of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and arson in connection with the death of her son, Samuel, who was 14 when he died in the fire. His 16-year-old brother, Jeremiah, jumped to the ground from the second floor after reportedly finding himself trapped as the hallway went up in flames.

Welton and her 6-year-old daughter slept in the living room downstairs and were able to leave through the front door. She is accused of starting the fire in a plot to kill her sons and collect life insurance money totaling $200,000.

Using floor charts and photos, Palmer District Attorney Roman Kalytiak attempted to reconstruct the scene for the jury.

"The fire had to have enough of some type of accelerant to burn through the floor, the carpet and joists. It wasn't sustained at the floor level," Olson said.

Photos also indicated an irregular fire pattern, Olson pointed out. In a regular fire, the flame spreads fairly evenly across a surface. In arson cases, the pattern leaps over areas and burns more deeply into spots seeped with fuel, she said.

Central Mat-Su fire battalion chief Mike Keenan testified earlier in the week that it took between 8,000 and 10,000 gallons of water to put out the blaze. "As soon as we thought we had it out in a room, the blaze would come back," he said.

Other testimony related to smoke detectors that did not sound the alarm. One was found on the kitchen counter disconnected from its battery. Another was found on the floor of the downstairs bathroom, and a third was located on the ceiling. None of them were operable during the fire, Olson testified.

If a smoke detector is in place, typically it melts down in the fire, leaving plastic drips on the floor below, Olson said. "The [second] smoke detector most likely had been disengaged previous to the fire, and was on the floor of the hallway upstairs," she said.

She speculated that the smoke detector fell through one of several charred floor holes created by the fire, opening to the bathroom below.

Carpet samples sent to the state crime lab and then to a laboratory Outside proved inconclusive on what type of accelerant may have been used, Olson testified.

Vapors trapped in floor samples after a fire usually help determine a fire's cause, but in this case, Olson testified, the fire may well have used up all the vapors, leaving analysts unable to determine the fire's origin.

A red spot identified in certain photos may have been a rubber gas can, Olson testified. Its disc-like shape would be all that remained after a fire.

Olson said she did not find the disc as she and others sifted through fire debris immediately after the fire. Instead, she saw it for the first time in photos and was unable to determine what the object might be.

Assistant Public Defender George Davenport took up a line of questioning based on photos taken prior to the fire. He showed Olson a red metal toy box located in the place where the red disc-like object was found.

"Might this be, approximately, where you locate the red object [in photos]?" he asked.

"Possibly," Olson said.

Davenport also showed photos of a four-poster bed and elaborate dresser in the master bedroom that might have contributed to the fire-load, causing it to appear an accelerant was used.

Olson agreed that in certain homes where people keep a lot of clutter and furniture, the fire-load can cause irregular burn patterns. But the Welton home appeared "well maintained and uncluttered," Olson said. She did not find a lot of furniture there, she said.

Olson testified that a "flashover" fire occurs when "everything in the room becomes so hot that the entire room is ignited from floor to ceiling."

Davenport asked if a flashover can cause an irregular burn pattern. Olson said that it could.

Among the photos taken one month prior to the fire, Davenport showed the jury one in which a smoke detector was on the kitchen counter.

Davenport also questioned Olson on information from Jeremiah taken by a firefighter. Jeremiah reportedly told a firefighter that he ran downstairs before running back upstairs and jumping from the bedroom window.

Olson said it is typical for people to be confused just after a fire about how they got out of it.

The trial continues today before Anchorage Superior Court Judge Milton Souter.