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Responders describe scene of fatal fire
As the clock ticked closer to the end of his shift on Oct. 13, 2011, then Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Brad Carpenter began making his way home towards Fort Scott, patrolling along the way.
He'd just turned onto U.S. 69 from Highway 7 and was traveling north when he saw a southbound pickup traveling at a high rate of speed. He checked his radar and it was reading in the 90s.
He quickly thought about stopping the pickup, but because of the speed the pickup was traveling, and how far Carpenter would have to go to get turned around, Carpenter didn't think he would be able to catch up with it. He kept driving, but in his review mirror, saw the truck take the Highway 7 exit.
Carpenter was just backing into his driveway at about 10 p.m. when he heard fire tones and first responders called to respond to a structure fire where a person was trapped inside. Carpenter radioed to his dispatch in Salina that he was going "10-8" -- on duty -- and he headed to the scene.
He hit U.S. 69 and at one point was traveling 125 mph and talking to dispatch along the way. He missed the turnoff that would take him to the Bollinger residence and had to go to the next intersection then come back. Still, he made the trip in a little more than two minutes.
He was one of the first emergency responders on the scene, where a gray or silver diesel pickup was parked in the yard and flames were coming out of a bedroom window.
Two years later, he doesn't know if it's the same pickup he'd seen speeding. He doesn't even know what color the speeding pickup was, Carpenter said from the witness stand Tuesday at the Brent Bollinger murder trial being held in the Bourbon County District Court. He was one of four emergency responders who testified Tuesday morning.
Bollinger is accused of killing his wife, Brenna, by setting their house on fire on Oct. 13, 2011. Bollinger and his then 2-year-old son, Bryson, survived the house fire at 2166 Grand Road. The body of his wife, Brenna Bollinger, 23, was found in the fire.
Bryson was flown to Shriners Children's Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio with critical burns and was released a month later. Brent Bollinger suffered burns on 69 percent of his body. He was charged with first degree murder, child endangerment and aggravated arson in January 2012.
Bollinger pleaded not guilty to the alleged crimes at his arraignment in September 2012. He is facing charges of murder and arson following the fire.
Bollinger is represented by his attorney former Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison. The state is represented by Bourbon County Attorney Terri Johnson and Kristiane Bryant, assistant state attorney general criminal division.
When Carpenter, now no longer with the KHP, arrived at the Bollinger residence, he saw Brent Bollinger with his arms above the head and he was screaming. He was wearing only a pair of jeans.
"I think the shirt got burned off of him," Carpenter said. "He was screaming frantically that his wife was still inside."
Carpenter asked him what happened and Bollinger said he had been cutting firewood outside, got gasoline on himself, then went inside and lit a cigarette.
"He seemed cognizant enough to understand my questions," Carpenter said.
Later, he testified that he didn't think Brent Bollinger "was going to make it because skin was sloughing off his arms."
EMS arrived and began taking care of Brent Bollinger. Carpenter turned his attention to securing the area.
"I felt the circumstances just didn't add up," Carpenter said. "I just got the feeling this was something more than a fire. To me, it was more of a coincidence with this being a structure fire and being confined to one area instead of being fully engulfed."
Carpenter contacted other law enforcement, such as the sheriff's office, and also asked his dispatch to contact the state fire marshal's officers, who have specialized training for fatality fires, Carpenter said.
KHP Trooper John Burns was working near the Crawford-Bourbon county line when he heard a call for all personnel to respond to the structure fire. Although Bourbon County is not his region, he said he assists his shift partner when needed. Carpenter was his shift partner that night.
He and Carpenter investigated the truck, using flashlights and not touching the vehicle. They both described the interior as having the appearance of someone living in it, with blankets, clothes and trash strewn about. Carpenter testified that there was an open beer can in the console and a beer box in the bed of the pickup. Burns said he saw some firewood, but not a full load. They both noticed an odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle.
"We were searching the truck because Mr. Bollinger had stated he was cutting firewood," Carpenter said. "We wanted to see if there was a chainsaw in the truck."
They did not secure the truck because Burns said all they had was yellow crime scene tape, which was strung around the perimeter of the yard. Later, during a cross examination with Morrison, Carpenter stated the pickup was not driven through the crime scene.
Carpenter said he was talking to another law enforcement officer when he heard the truck start up. When he turned to look, "Mr. Bollinger's vehicle was leaving the residence through the tape," Carpenter said.
"I was upset because that was a crime scene vehicle," Carpenter said.
He notified the Fort Scott Police Department to have someone make contact with the vehicle at Mercy Hospital.
Then Undersheriff Bill Martin and Sheriff Ron Gray arrived, along with a Kansas Bureau of Investigation detective. Carpenter said he turned the investigation over to them.
While Carpenter had acted as the incident commander for the law enforcement agencies, he interviewed Robert Stine, Brent Bollinger's uncle, and Derek Cagle, a friend of Brent and Brenna Bollinger. He said he then passed Cagle off to another officer.
Burns' responsibility at the scene was to keep a log of emergency personnel who entered the scene. Burns admitted that because he didn't know everyone, and volunteer firefighters had arrived in plain clothes, he had to ask their identify.
However, he said law enforcement officers kept the 40 or 50 civilians, some who were "emotionally charged," away from the house.
Attorneys from both sides spent much time questioning Fort Scott Fire Chief Paul Ballou, who has been with the department for more than 20 years. He became the fire personnel incident commander at the scene, even though the fire occurred in an area where Scott Township Fire Department and District 3 Fire Department both respond. Because firefighters who were already on scene were unsure who the incident commander was, Ballou took that duty by "default" he said.
Ballou said he was home when he saw a page on his phone for his department to assist at a structure fire. Ballou also received a phone call and was told the fire was at the Bollinger residence.
Fort Scott Fire Capt. Dale Bollinger is Brent Bollinger's father.
When Ballou arrived, the city's fire truck was in the drive with a hose stretched out into the house. Ballou said his first concern was to check the water in the truck. Then he checked on Dale Bollinger and Roberts who were inside the house.
The front door was open, and seeing not a lot of smoke, Ballou went inside without any fire gear. He said he didn't feel a lot of heat, so he proceeded into the living room and at the hallway, began feeling heat. He went down the hallway for a bit and saw the two fire fighters on the floor in the doorway of a bedroom. They were in full gear, but could hear Ballou when he asked if they were OK. Roberts verbally said they were, and also nodded, Ballou said.
Ballou said because they had found Brenna Bollinger's body, he had the two firefighters exit the area so the scene could be preserved for the investigation.
"As a firefighter, we respond to fires," Ballou later told the jury. "It's our job to put the fire out. It's also our job to try to put that fire out without doing any more moving, disturbing anything within that fire -- on any fire."
While Ballou went to get his gear from his vehicle, he said he saw Dale Bollinger and Roberts come out the front door. Ballou went back to Dale Bollinger and to console him and "help him get a hold of the situation as best as he could." He told Dale Bollinger he take his gear off and go be with his family. Ballou said he also contacted dispatch to send a replacement for Dale Bollinger.
"The idea was that when (another fire fighter) came out to relieve him, he'd take the vehicle," Ballou said.
Ballou said the last time he saw Dale Bollinger, he was walking towards the road. Later, he learned that Dale Bollinger drove away in Brent Bollinger's pickup.
Ballou said there was still heavy smoke coming from the house. He sent three firefighters inside with instructions to not go inside the bedroom and to not "dig into" anything. They were instructed to hit the source of the smoke with the water hose. Two other firefighters put water on the source from the outside through the window.
"We were told early on there was more going on to the situation," Ballou said, adding that he wasn't sure what that was.
As firefighters worked to get to the source of the heavy smoke, Ballou began looking for a way to cut the power to a portion of the house. Often all power is cut off from a burning structure, but Ballou said this was different. He looked at the meter, then decided to speak with Carpenter. Together they went through the garage door and downstairs where they stopped the circuit to the bedroom, leaving power to the remainder of the house intact. That meant a motion security light would still be operational through the night, Ballou said.
After that was done, the fire in the bedroom seemed to go out easily, Ballou said.
There was a lot of commotion outside, Ballou said. During cross examination with Morrison, Ballou admitted he told investigators that he had "never seen a fire scene with so many people using cell phones."
Along with the crowd of friends, family and onlookers, there also was a black Labrador retriever wandering around. As the night wore on, the dog got closer to the house. Finally, because there was a concern the dog would go inside where the victim was located, Ballou said a decision was made to pull the doors shut.
Ballou said when he noticed the front door, he saw that it had been kicked in, which is not unusual because firefighters often have to break through a locked door at a house fire. During cross examination with Morrison, Ballou said firefighters had "shouldered" their way through the door, breaking the jams.
On Monday, Jason Harris, who allegedly had an affair with Brenna Bollinger, said he was speaking to her on the cell phone shortly before the fire and heard what he thought was Brent Bollinger kicking the door in.
Along with Brent Bollinger's pickup, Brenna Bollinger's white Tahoe was parked in the driveway. Ballou said he noticed there was a 2.5 gallon gas can sitting near the right front tire of the vehicle. He didn't give the can much thought because firefighters had used a power saw to cut a hole in the roof.
He said he forgot about the can when he was later questioned by the KBI and state fire marshal. Morrison played a recording of that interview in which Ballou said he did not see a gas can. He told Morrison it was later when he remembered the can, then called the investigator.
Bourbon County Attorney Terri Johnson asked Ballou if a one-room fire was unusual, but Ballou said it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Another witness who testified Tuesday morning was Matt Combs, who at the time was an EMT for Mercy Hospital. He testified that he and Paramedic Scott Perkins got Brent Bollinger in the ambulance and was told that then 2-year-old Bryson Bollinger was at Brent Bollinger's grandmother's house and he was burned, too. Combs said they went to the house, but did not take the child because Combs didn't want to upset the child any more than he had been. Another ambulance arrived to take care of Bryson.
They cut the jeans from Brent Bollinger to make sure there were no hidden injuries and removed personal items from his pockets: a wallet, driver's license and a wedding ring. Those type of items are typically handed to a family member, Combs said.
Combs drove the ambulance while Perkins treated Brent Bollinger in the back. They drove to the helicopter pad at Mercy Hospital Fort Scott.