The trailer in which a 23-year-old Big Piney man was shot and killed in a bow-and-arrow ambush in February caught fire Tuesday afternoon, authorities say.
But the fire doesn’t appear suspicious in nature at this point in the investigation, Sublette County Unified Fire Deputy Chief and Fire Warden Robert Kladianos told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday.
Dakota Farley, 23, died in his living room in the Big Piney trailer Feb. 2 when an arrow pierced through his chest’s vital organs, according to court documents in the murder cases that have followed.
The case prosecutor, Sublette County Attorney Clayton Melinkovich, has said in past court hearings that Farley was "impaled."
Rowan Littauer, 19, and Orion Schlesinger, 18, face variations of first-degree murder charges on claims that they conspired together to kill Farley, and that Littauer shot the compound bow that night.
Their cases are ongoing in Sublette County District Court.
Nobody Inside
Tuesday afternoon, authorities were dispatched to that same trailer on South Mickelson Street because it had caught fire, Sublette County Sheriff KC Lehr confirmed Wednesday.
Sublette County Unified Fire, the sheriff’s office and emergency medical personnel responded, but no one was living in the home and it was unoccupied at the time, Kladianos said in his interview.
The trailer was “fully involved,” and the day was hot for the often-frigid town at 75 degrees, Kladianos said.
Lehr noted that conditions were stormy with some wind, and authorities worried the fire would impact nearby structures.
A power transformer station and main substation hosting “a lot of big electrical equipment” sits next to that trailer, said Kladianos. The fire was threatening that structure initially, but fire crews were able to suppress it without letting it damage the equipment.
The effort involved 20 people, three fire pumpers and two command vehicles, plus the traffic-control and assistance response from the sheriff’s office and EMS on standby, said Kladianos.
Despite the noteworthy coincidence of a fire engulfing a home in which a man was allegedly murdered just four months prior, investigators don’t suspect foul play at this point, the deputy chief said.
“Nothing out of the ordinary on this one,” said Kladianos. “Obviously, you have concerns because of the past history. But we quickly, I think, got it put out and found nothing suspicious in our investigation.”
Still, he added, the investigation is ongoing.
Though no one was living in the home, its utilities were still functional, he confirmed.
The home is listed as belonging to Scott Cardwell of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Cardwell did not immediately respond to a voicemail request for comment at his listed phone number.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
