Suspicious house fire under investigation
Staff reports

DESERT HILLS – Arson investigators are trying to determine what caused a North Valley home to go up in flames early Sunday morning.

The residence, located at 613 W. Galvin Street, could not be saved, according to a news release from Daisy Mountain Fire Department. There were no reported injuries.

Crews responded at approximately 3:50 a.m. to find the house “fully engulfed in flames,” the fire department reported. Neighbors told firefighters they heard what sounded like an “explosion.”

“When the guys (firefighters) pulled up, there wasn’t much they could do,” said DMFD Capt. Dennis Tyrrell, adding it took about 90 minutes before the fire was out. He related that investigators consider the blaze “suspicious.”

“It appears there was an explosion, but the cause of that has not been determined,” Tyrrell said.

The structure contained a four‑car garage, according to Maricopa County property records. Tyrrell said two cars in the garage at the time of the blaze were also completely destroyed.

No one was in the house at the time, and the owner was reportedly out of town.

Tyrrell went on to say the fire was so massive that if someone had been trapped inside the house, there was no way firefighters could have attempted a rescue. “It wasn’t possible for anyone to survive that,” he said.

Property records indicate the residence, valued at $374,000, was owned by a Glendale couple who sold it to a relative in March 2002 for $315,000. The listed owner could not be located for comment.

Tax records indicate half of the $2,382 property tax bill had been paid, leaving $1,191 outstanding.