Opinion ID: 2216408
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Livermore Fire.

Text: On October 3, 1992, the Livermore family home was destroyed by fire. Though the house was secured before the Livermores had left town for the weekend, it was common knowledge in the neighborhood that the back door would not always close properly. Firefighters reported that the front door was unlocked when they arrived. At first, fire investigators believed that either a television or a pile of debris under a desk in one of the bedrooms served as the ignition point. On further examination, investigators concluded that the television was a victim of the fire rather than the source of the fire. Based on all the circumstances the authorities confirmed the fire had an incendiary origin. A few days after his home had burned, Mr. Livermore was sifting through the remains when Hage, who lived with his parents next-door, began walking around the scene. Livermore did not have a close relationship with Hage, but the two occasionally chatted. Hage mentioned that he awoke to the smell of smoke on the morning of the fire and also remarked cryptically about the Livermores' dog, Bristy, who had perished in the fire, saying, Boy, you just never know whether he's going to bite and when he isn't. Bristy was hostile to strangers, but according to Livermore, the dog knew Hage and would not respond aggressively to him. After first telling authorities during the Riss fire investigation that he had not seen any other fires, Hage conceded that he saw the Livermore fire as he walked home from his job at K-Mart around 6:00 a.m. Upon checking, the authorities discovered that he was not employed at K-Mart during this time. At another point during his interview, Hage said he did not become aware of the fire until after he came home from K-Mart and went to bed, but was awakened by the smell of smoke blowing in his open window. The wind that morning was blowing away from his window however.