Prospect Hts. teen charged with arson in family home fire

A 14-year-old Prospect Heights boy is charged with multiple counts of aggravated arson in connection with an early morning fire Monday that destroyed his family's home, Prospect Heights Police Chief Jamie Dunne said.

The higher charges of aggravated arson, filed when people are hurt in an intentionally set fire, come after a Prospect Heights police officer was hospitalized as a result of his search inside the burning house for the boy, who for several hours nobody knew had fled the scene, according to authorities.

The officer and the boy's mother were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation and subsequently released. The boy's father cut his hand on glass, police said, and two other police officers were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, according to Prospect Heights Fire Protection District Chief Donald Gould.

Authorities were alerted to the fire at about 3:30 a.m. on the 1200 block of Stratford Road in Prospect Heights. When the first police officer, Mark Pufundt, arrived, the teen's parents and three children were standing in the yard as the ranch home burned. They were concerned about their 14-year-old son, who had not come outside with them.

Pufundt broke the teen's bedroom window with his nightstick and climbed into the room, which, Dunne said, was so filled with smoke the officer couldn't see. The officer did an "arm sweep" around the room to check for the teen, but he found no one.

As the teen's whereabouts remained unknown for several hours, firefighters had no choice but to keep digging through the debris of the house, Gould said.

Once Pufundt got back outside, firefighters took him to Northwest Community Hospital for treatment, Dunne said, adding he has since been released.

"He definitely was not thinking about himself," Dunne said of Pufundt's dramatic rescue attempt.

Arlington Heights police found the 14-year-old about 9 a.m. in a building on the 500 block of Euclid Avenue in Arlington Heights, about 3½ miles from his home. He was uninjured, Dunne said. Police say he is a freshman at Hersey High School.

The Daily Herald is aware of the teen's name but is not naming him because he is a juvenile.

Dunne said it is unknown how the fire started or when, or if the teen had planned it. He said there is no record of police being called to the home on previous occasions.

Dunne also said he did not know the motive and would not speculate on whether the teen was trying to harm someone.

Firefighters have determined the fire began in the basement, Gould said, although he would not discuss how it started. It took about 30 minutes to put out the fire, he said, adding that Stratford Road has no hydrants and firefighters had to run a line from a distance away.

Gould said it is up to the state fire marshal to definitively rule on the cause of the fire.