No evidence ties pair to country club fire

The two Laton volunteer firefighters jailed and released this week on suspicion of starting more than 30 fires in and around the Laton area have been cleared of any connection to the clubhouse fire at the Kings Country Club -- for the time being.

"At this time, we don't have any individual that we are specifically looking at," Kings County Assistant Fire Chief Mike Virden said this morning. "I'm not going to connect these guys to it, but we're not exonerating them either. It's still under investigation."

Arrested on Monday was Teddy Lee, 23, of Laton and Christopher Furtado, 27, of Hanford on separate charges of arson. However, the charges were dropped and the pair released on Wednesday, when the Fresno County District Attorney's office claimed there was insufficient evidence in the case to proceed to trial.

No charges in the case have been filed in Kings County.

"I don't want to give the impression that they didn't do it, but we just don't have that information," Virden said. "Right now, we are gathering a totality of information that will develop into leads. We will continue to pursue this matter."

The Kings Country Club fire occurred the evening of July 7, causing more than $750,000 in damages to the golf course clubhouse undergoing renovations at the time. The clubhouse was a building on the old Hanford High School campus.

The reporter can be reached at 583-2425.

(July 25, 2008)