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20A Sunday, April 13, 2008 M dallasnews.com The Dallas Morning NewsFROM THE FRONT PAGE
thousands of fires. At first glance, this
one last week looks to be accidental,
maybe from a candle left burning or a
pan of grease igniting on the stove.
But he’s learned to expect the unex-
pected.
“Every fire is different. There is no
routine,” Capt. Drahos says before en-
tering through the front door.
A string of suspicious car fires in
Oak Cliff has put the glare of publicity
on Dallas Fire-Rescue’s arson division
and its 16 full-time investigators.
Since the fires started Feb. 28,
more than two dozen vehicles have
been burned. The arsonists hurled
Molotov cocktails at some cars and
soaked others with gasoline to set
them ablaze, according to investiga-
tors.
A week ago, police arrested four
teenage boys in connection with the
car fires. But a few hours later, two
more cars were set on fire in north
Oak Cliff. Investigators are trying to
determine whether the latest arson
casesareconnectedtotheearlierones.
In general, the arson investigators
like to work under the radar, wary of
revealing too much information that
might benefit someone thinking
about committing arson.
“We like anonymity,” said J.C. Ad-
ams,chiefofthefireandarsoninvesti-
gation division, from his office near
Deep Ellum. “We don’t draw attention
to ourselves. We try very hard to blend
in with the regular firefighters on the
scene.”
Car fires aren’t rare — the city aver-
aged about 40 a month last fiscal year.
Occasionally they are accidental, but
most are intentional: an owner who
can’t make his payments and wants to
collect on the insurance; an angry
spouse seeking revenge; teenagers
who boost a sedan for a joy ride, drop
it off in a field, and then torch it.
But the Oak Cliff car fires are dif-
ferent — the work of serial arsonists.
“It’s rare, very rare,” said Chief Adams,
50, a 24-year veteran with the Dallas
fire department.
In recent weeks, arson investiga-
tors have been responding to every car
fire in the targeted area of Oak Cliff —
day and night — a strain on an already
smallunitthatinvestigated2,247fires
in fiscal 2007.
Chief Adams enjoys the camarade-
rie within the squad, which has low
turnover and an atmosphere that he
describes as a cross between The Andy
Griffith Show and In the Heat of the
Night.
“We’re a family here, but we’re very
successful at what we do,” he says.
Thearsonsquad’s37percentclear-
ance rate ranks as one of the country’s
highest, despite the team’s smaller-
than-average size for major cities,
Chief Adams says. There’s been no
staff increase for many years, he says,
and he’d like to add positions.
“The Catch-22 is we can’t justify
more staff because we’re doing so
well,” he says.
Today, the house fire in southeast
Dallas is the day shift’s first call, and
Capt. Drahos is joined by Capt. James
Brown, 57, a 27-year-veteran of the
Dallas fire department. “We go to all
fires where there’s smoke showing,”
Capt. Drahos explains.
Patient, analytical
Arson investigators should be pa-
tient, analytical and open-minded,
Chief Adams says, qualities that Capt.
Drahos and Capt. Brown have.
“I like puzzles,” says Capt. Brown,
who grew up in Oak Cliff and keeps a
photoofhisfirstcar,aPontiacGTO,in
his cubicle. “This is a puzzle, figuring
things out.”
Capt. Drahos, who grew up in Chi-
cago and worked as a Navy aerial pho-
tographer, likes to banter and chitchat
with co-workers, and his down-to-
earth manner helps put potential wit-
nesses at ease. He likes the variety his
job offers. “Every day you come in and
there’s something new. It never gets
monotonous.”
At the scene, the two men check
in with the fire commander and then
step inside the smoky house to look
for the fire’s point of origin. They
don’t have to walk far to find it: a
charred couch in a front room. Judg-
ing from the heavy amount of soot
and the “V” burn pattern on the wall
behind the couch, the investigators
figure the fire smoldered for some
time — maybe from a lighted ciga-
rette or burning ash.
Solved, or maybe not
Capt. Brown continues to inspect
the house, while Capt. Drahos moves
across the street to talk to witnesses.
He learns that the home’s tenant has
been in the hospital for several days.
Worried about break-ins, the tenant
was letting a young man from the
neighborhood stay there at night. He
sleeps on the couch, says the man’s
brother,oneofthewitnesseswhotalks
to Capt. Drahos. When he saw the
smoke, he got scared because he
thought his brother was inside, so he
kicked in the front door, he says. But
his brother had already left.
“Does he smoke?” asks Capt. Dra-
hos.
“Yeah,” the brother answers. “Ciga-
rettes.”
It doesn’t take long for the investi-
gators to reach a conclusion. “We’re
going to say that this is a careless
smoking fire,” Capt. Brown says. “This
is an accidental fire — other than the
paperwork, we’re finished.”
But not so fast. Just as they are
about to leave, the house-sitter walks
up. He tells them he left the house at 2
a.m. to return to his mother’s home
and insists that the fire couldn’t have
been caused by a burning cigarette.
He thinks someone broke in after he
left and started the fire — perhaps
someone who’s angry with him.
But he doesn’t want to give the in-
vestigators any names. They talk to
the young man for another 30 min-
utes, promising him they’ll keep an
open mind.
“It’s never easy,” Capt. Drahos says,
returning to his car. “Every fire — you
have to put effort in it.”
“Welcome to our world,” adds
Capt. Brown.
RON BASELICE/Staff Photographer
Capt. James Brown (left), Capt. Frank Drahos and the rest of the arson
unit have a 37 percent clearance rate, one of the nation’s highest.
Arrests haven’t ended car fires case for arson unit
Continued from Page 1A
prize only heightens the ner-
vousness, which in this
competition is as omnipresent
assugarandeggs.Thewinneris
scheduled to appear on The To-
day Show on Thursday, and the
Food Network will tape the
competition while Bake-Off
host and on-air personality
Sandra Lee walks around the
floor, tasting the entries.
“Firstofall,theyarecompet-
ing for $1 million,” says Onju
Sturlaugson, the Pillsbury
Bake-Off manager. “So, I’m
sure they’re a little excited. But
we do everything possible to
make them feel comfortable,”
including serving a lavish ball-
room dinner tonight.
TheBake-Offbeganin1949.
This is the third time Dallas has
played host to the biennial
event, the previous being 1968
and 1996, when the Bake-Off
elevated the winning prize to $1
million,andforthefirstandon-
ly time, a man won it. Over the
years, special guests or emcees
have included Joy Behar, Dick
Clark, Art Linkletter and for-
mer President Ronald Reagan
(before he left acting for poli-
tics.)
When it comes to anxiety in
this or any endeavor, Stephanie
Hollowell is a cool customer, a
woman whose day job all but
bleeds pressure.
Ms. Hollowell, whose recipe
for Fudgy Chocolate-Peanut
Butter Thumbprints thrust her
into the finals, is an air traffic
controller at Addison Airport.
So the thought of baking cook-
ies against a clock doesn’t keep
her up nights. Precious seconds
have challenged her for years,
and with much higher stakes
than whether she burns the
cookies.
“As an air traffic controller,”
says Ms. Hollowell, 45, who
lives in North Dallas, “we do ev-
erything down to the split sec-
ond. Timing is everything. So
I’ve had perfect training!”
RobinHill,56,aseniorengi-
neering technician with a pe-
troleumfirm,livesinArlington,
where her kitchen has served as
a training ground for years. In
1993, she was a finalist in the
National Beef Cook-Off and
won the Texas Beef Cook-Off in
1990, 1993 and 1995. A native
of Del Rio, Texas, where she
mastered a south-of-the-bor-
der twist, her recipe is Spinach
and Mushroom Enchiladas
With Creamy Red Sauce.
For her, experience is the
best anti-anxiety antidote, and
yet, there’s no competition like
the Pillsbury to get the adrena-
line juiced up.
“I just hope I stay cool and
don’t get too flustered with the
competition part,” says Ms.
Hill, who has two grown sons
and three granddaughters. “My
fear is that I don’t totally burn
the enchiladas.”
For finalist Gwen Beau-
champ of Lancaster: “This is
thebigone.Thisisthecompeti-
tion that every cook who com-
petes wants to be in. It’s the Su-
per Bowl of cooking.”
Like most contestants, Ms.
Beauchamp is no stranger to
cooking confabs, having en-
teredthe2006BattleofthePA-
Mazing Grillers in New York,
sponsored by Pam cooking
spray, and at least three other
national events.
Because anxiety is a Pills-
bury given, Ms. Beauchamp
copped an attitude well ahead
of time. “I have made up my
mind to just go and have a good
time,” she says.
Her recipe is Toffee-Banana
Brownies, one she deduced
would be easier to make given
the ticking clock. Like the 99
other recipes that qualified, it
mandated the use of two eligi-
ble products. Hers include
Pillsbury Traditional Fudge
BrownieMix,CriscoPureVege-
table Oil and Smucker’s Cara-
mel Ice Cream Topping.
Between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Monday, contestants are obli-
gated to whip up their own dish
at least twice, once for judging,
once for photography. They
may then make it a third time,
to allow floor walkers such as
Ms. Lee a chance to taste it or if
they’renotthatjazzedaboutthe
first two attempts.
Ms. Beauchamp, 54, is an
information specialist at the
Cox School of Business at
Southern Methodist Universi-
ty. She’s married with five
grown children. If she wins the
$1million,shedreamsof“clear-
ing7acresandplantingapecan
orchard on 10 acres of land we
own near Red Oak. I’ll buy my
husband a tractor, and we’ll
plantpecantrees.Theoldboyis
ready to have some fun. As far
as he’s concerned, I’m already
the winner. He loves chocolate.
The man’s a chocolate fanatic.”
Ms. Hollowell is single, so
her support group is her mom,
her brothers and four cats. This
is her third time to enter Pills-
bury, the first being 1996.
“Honestly,” says Ms. Hollo-
well, “I don’t expect to win.
Cookies generally don’t win.
They’re not considered enough
of a showplace item.”
She marvels at how many
strange and exotic ingredients
are being deployed in this year’s
Bake-Off, which also features
eight male contestants (though
14 men competed in the 1998
Bake-Off). If Ms. Hollowell
does win, she hopes to buy a
house and turn it into a part-
time restaurant.
IfMs.Hillwins,shehopesto
get the travel bug out of her sys-
tem, then slap a new roof on the
house and add a new air-condi-
tioning system.
Ms. Pietsch, 43, had intend-
edtobuyherhusbandanewcar
should she be declared the win-
ner, but he ended up getting
one anyway, only to have it
pummeled in a recent hail-
storm.
“So, now I’m amending my
dream to fix the damage on his
car.Oratleastcoverthededuct-
ible,” she says with a laugh. “I
know that doesn’t sound too ex-
citing, but I would be thrilled.
Of course, just winning would
be thrilling. I’m one of those
people who’s never won any-
thing big in her entire life.
Come to think of it, why
wouldn’t I be nervous?”
EVANS CAGLAGE/Staff Photographer
FILE 2007/Staff photo
Gwen Beauchamp of Lancaster isn’t focused solely on win-
ning. For now, she’s just eating up the chance to compete.
FILE 2007
Stephanie Hollowell is used to high-pressure situations, in
the kitchen, or in her job as an air traffic controller.
Chefs seek
recipe for
contest winContinued from Page 1A
A SAMPLING
Contest ingredients
I 46 cans of Crisco Original
No-Stick Cooking Spray
I 26 (4.5-ounce) cans of Old El
Paso Chopped Green Chilies
I 24 jars of Smucker’s Caramel
Ice Cream Topping
I 22 bags of Fisher Blanched
Slivered Almonds
I 11 jars of ground cinnamon
I 5 different brands of
sun-dried tomatoes in oil
requested by finalists
I 67 onions
I 45 bunches of bananas
I 45 limes
I 38 jalapeños
I 32 bunches of cilantro
I 18 poblano peppers
I 72 (13.8-ounce) cans of
Pillsbury Refrigerated Pizza
Crust
I 62 packages of cream cheese
I 40 cartons of sour cream
I 32 dozen eggs
I 9 packages of goat cheese
(chèvre)
GET RECIPES from
Texas finalists and
classic Bake-Off dishes.
dallasnews.com/food
Alyssa Kurtz and her brother Kyle Kurtz separate power cords as they set up for the contest.
