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Officials: Torch-wielding man threatens firefighters

The man interfered with firefighters’ efforts and tried to stomp out the grass fire on his own; the flames reached as high as his waist

KOMO News

GRAHAM, Wash. — A torch-wielding man was arrested Tuesday after he interfered with firefighters attempting to douse a grass fire on his property and attacked a sheriff’s deputy, officials and court records say.

The drama unfolded in the 14600 block of Kapowsin Highway East when a crew from the Graham Fire Department arrived at the man’s property after receiving a report of a grass fire, said Ed Troyer of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office. A sheriff’s deputy was called to the scene after the man, later identified as Alonzo Mims, 67, began interfering with the firefighters and threatening to re-ignite the fire if they extinguished it, according to Troyer and court records.

The firefighters also told the deputy that Mims had a propane torch and they were afraid he would attack them with it.

Full story: Officials: Torch-wielding man threatens firefighters, attacks deputy