Teesto, Dilkon fire probe turned over to feds; chapter officials respond to loss

Investigation of the nearly simultaneous Dilkon and Teesto chapter compound fires has been turned over to the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Navajo Nation Police Lt. Emerson Lee confirmed Saturday afternoon as federal investigators combed the wreckage and interviewed local law enforcement personnel.

Lee said if the twin blazes were deliberately set, they fall under the Major Crimes Act, especially since both involved U.S. Post Offices.

He added that Navajo Nation Criminal Investigations, which started the probe and will cooperate in it, has “some leads but no suspects” at this point.

Meanwhile, officials at the two victimized chapters are taking it personally.

“There was a lot of history there,” said Teesto Secretary-Treasurer Sophia Francis, looking over the burned-out corpse of the chapter’s 1950s-era chapter house.

Personally, Francis is mourning the two rugs her grandmother wove and donated to the chapter.

“When my dad (former chapter president Roger Attakai) came by, that’s the first thing he asked about,” she said. “I’m sure they were destroyed.”

For the community, she is concerned about the senior citizens. The chapter house — completely destroyed in the blaze — also housed the Post Office, the senior dining room and veterans’ organization meetings.

“Whoever did this,” she said, “did it to the elders. They’re the ones that attend the chapter meetings. They’re the ones that come for lunch. They’re the ones that attend the veterans’ meetings. Now our grandmas and grandpas have nowhere to come together and socialize.”

Dilkon Chapter President Lorenzo Lee Sr., meanwhile, was flashing back to his military days in the wake of the destruction of his chapter’s administration building (which also had housed a Post Office).
“What we need to figure out is what these people were after and who they were targeting,” he said. “Sorry, but that’s how you think after 23 years in the military.”

While police were reluctant to use the word “arson” to describe the fires, Council Delegate Elmer P. Begay (Dilkon/Teesto/Indian Wells/Whitecone/Greasewood Springs) had no such qualms.

“Two chapters burning at almost the same time … while they knew everyone was at the fair … How could it not be deliberate?” he said. “This was a well-planned attack. I’m not blaming kids for this one.”

Others were reluctant to believe it was anything more than random vandalism.

“Bunch of drunks, most likely,” said a resident in the Navajo Housing Authority development next to the Dilkon Chapter House.

“The kids hang out in the parking lot at night, using the wi-fi,” Francis said. “Someone could have gotten an idea.”

Emerson Lee (no relation to Lorenzo) said the Dilkon fire was reported at 2:10 Saturday morning. A fire truck from the Dilcon Community School was the first to respond, followed by a unit from the Ganado Volunteer Fire Department. The fire was out by 3:17 a.m., but the building was a total loss.

While crews were working on that fire, a call came in at 3:11 a.m. that the Teesto Chapter House was on fire, Lee said. The Ganado unit that had responded to Dilkon raced to Teesto, 10 miles away, and was later joined by a second Ganado truck. Francis said the fire crew from Seba Dalkai Boarding School also responded. That blaze was out by 4:48 a.m., but the roof of the building had collapsed and everything in the building was destroyed.

A command center for the incident was set up in the Navajo Department of Transportation’s Dilkon office, with Begay’s legislative assistant Claudia Jackson appointed commander.

Jackson said she was happy with the quick response and coordination of tribal emergency management, Navajo County and federal authorities to combat the blaze and secure the possible crime scene. Lorenzo Lee said it didn’t hurt that chapter personnel had just taken part in an emergency response training.

If someone did start the fires, and their intent was to destroy documents, they may be out of luck. Teesto had just finished backing up its financial data onto a computer, Francis said, and Lorenzo Lee said “most of” Dilkon’s records are similarly protected.

The arsonist, if there was one, instead succeeded in displacing two small, tight-knit communities.

Francis said Teesto is thinking of renovating its Head Start building, which is currently not in use, as a makeshift chapter house, and Lorenzo Lee said Dilkon will ask NDOT for space in its building.

Mail will have to be picked up in Winslow for now.

Begay said he hopes the chapters won’t rush into the transition.

“The first thing we need,” he said, “is a ceremony. We need something to put our minds at ease and give us the mind to go forward. I hope the elderlies from both communities will step forward and give us some advice on this part.”