by Manuelita Beck and Marisa Demarco
Daily Lobo
A UNM alumnus is one of three men charged in last week's Rio Grande Bosque fire.
Ben Tucker was arrested Friday and charged with negligent arson in connection to the fire. Tucker was arrested along with Peter Gallo and Jan Yoder.
The men reside at a property on the 2000 block of Brown Road in the South Valley where the fire is alleged to have started.
Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White said the fire began from sparks given off by a metal grinder. He said the sparks probably caused cottonwood tree dust on the ground to catch fire.
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Neighbors told investigators they heard a metal grinder before the fire began, according to police reports. Police found two metal grinders at the fire's alleged point of origin.
According to John McCall, the men's attorney, Gallo and Yoder were improving a shed in the yard and had watered it and the surrounding area down. They discovered the fire in their yard after returning from a break and attempted to put it out. McCall said Tucker, who had been working in the house, called 911.
McCall said he had hired a private investigator and was looking for a private arson investigator to look into the fire.
"It's quite possible that the fire actually caught in the corner of the property to the northwest," McCall said.
The police stand by the charges, White said. He said there is no excuse for activities that produce sparks near the Bosque.
"Do I think that these men deliberately set the Bosque on fire? No," White said.
He said the men should have known metal grinding was dangerous.
"Right now, the Bosque and most places are a tinderbox," he said.
The fire burned Thursday and Friday. Two buildings were destroyed in the fire, one of which belonged to an electrician.
While at UNM, Tucker was an active member of student groups Rebel Alliance and UNM College Greens.
