A fire that destroyed a Mendenhall Valley home early Saturday morning was deliberately set by a man who then died in an adjacent room from a cause not related to the fire, the Juneau Police Department reported Wednesday.
Bryan Vieyra, 33, was found dead inside the home in the 8200 block of Aspen Avenue after Capital City Fire/Rescue responded to the fire at about 5:30 a.m. Saturday, according to a JPD information release and a family member who provided his name.
“The initial arson and death investigation reveal that a man intentionally started a fire in the living room area of his residence and then went into another room within the home where he was later found deceased,” the release states. “The preliminary investigation into the cause of his death indicates the 33 year-old man’s death was not related to the fire and is not suspicious in nature.”
Erann Kalwara, a JPD spokesperson, declined to provide additional details about the cause of the man’s death.
Vieyra’s wife, Elizabeth Martinez Ruiz, told the Empire on Wednesday evening she had not been informed yet of the JPD’s update on the circumstances of the fire and her husband’s death. She was at work when the fire occurred and said Wednesday she didn’t know enough from talking to three other family members who were sleeping in the house when the fire started to comment about the circumstances as described by JPD.
The three other people in the house when the fire started were able to escape safely, but a cousin of Ruiz’s was seriously injured trying to reenter to find Vieyra, according to the release.
“One of the men re-entered the home in an attempt to locate the fourth occupant, not knowing he was deceased,” the release states. “The man sustained life-threatening burns.”
Ruiz said her cousin is still recovering, but in stable condition at an Anchorage hospital.
Several pets died in the fire and the house is considered a total loss, according to JPD. An investigation by JPD and CCFR is continuing.
A GoFundMe set up on behalf of Ruiz and her family has raised more than $31,000 as of Wednesday evening. Ruiz said she plans to use some of the money to bring her husband’s remains to Mexico, where he was born and has family, while some will be used to help with her cousin’s medical bills.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com
