Pete Vermillion isn't certain how he's going to make ends meet. His business, the Agua Grande cafe in Big Water, Kane County, burned to the ground early Tuesday morning.
"I'll probably be on welfare next month. That fire pert' near cleaned me out," Vermillion said. "I'm 68 years old and I have to watch my nickels and pennies."Vermillion isn't certain what caused the fire that destroyed his business, an informal meeting ground for town Democrats. But some residents of Big Water believe the blaze was far from the accidental electrical fire officials say it was.
"The people who run this town have been after Pete for a long time," said resident Betty Olsen. "He's been a thorn in their side."
Alex Joseph, Big Water's mayor, who also serves as the assistant fire chief, denied any involvement in the fire and blasted those who say otherwise. "I resent that kind of crap," he said. "Five members of my family are on the fire department and went down there and risked their necks." Joseph also fought the fire.
"But it's America and they can believe what they want. I get blamed for everything that happens around here."
Vermillion, Olsen, Joseph and other Big Water residents were contacted by telephone Wednesday.
Big Water is a town run by members of a polygamist sect and friends of the sect's leader, Joseph, a charismatic town mayor who remains one of the few elected Libertarians anywhere in the United States. Big Water is also a town where the non-polygamist minority have maintained they have been persecuted.
Vermillion has been an outspoken critic of Joseph, as have Olsen and others in the small town. And Vermillion's cafe was the meeting ground for those who opposed Joseph and what they say are heavy-handed politics.
Some residents find the fire a particularly ominous omen in light of a recent city newsletter that attacked opponents of Joseph as "foot soldiers in a war they don't suspect."
"Does that mean that anyone who opposes Alex Joseph is going to be subjected to this kind of activity?" asked one resident.
"This isn't the first time they've used this kind of intimidation," added another.
Fire Chief Bill Tornbom said the fire was electrically caused and said claims that arson was involved are merely attempts to discredit Joseph before next week's mayoral election.
"What they (opponents of Joseph) think and what they know are two different matters," Tornbom said. "Alex Joseph did not start that fire in any shape or form. There was no chicanery involved. It was an electrical fire, nothing more."
The fire was the talk of Big Water Tuesday, and a lot of folks believed the fire had been deliberately set.
"I know some people are saying the fire wasn't an accident, but I'm not saying there is more to it than that," Vermillion said. "I have to keep my nose clean around here."
Vermillion said he closed his business about 8:30 p.m., but forgot to lock it. Witnesses said they heard an explosion, then looked out to see a huge fireball. "It was up in a flame of glory before anyone could do anything about it," said one witness.
The fire was reported about 1:10 a.m. Damage is estimated at $15,000 to $20,000. The cafe, which was not insured, was a total loss.
Joseph said the restaurant installed a new propane heater the day before the fire, and the explosion that accompanied the fire could point to a gas explosion. "It really went," he said.
Firefighters saved a motel and a 500-pound propane tank next to the cafe. No one was seriously injured, though Joseph said he was recovering from some smoke inhalation.