FIRST ARSON HOTLINE REWARD:

A $500 reward has been given to a man who called the State Fire Marshal’s Office Arson Hotline to report a case of arson. The call led to the arrest and conviction of 26-year-old Laurie Granado of Austin on charges of first-degree arson. It is the first cash reward to be given to an informant since the program was created in 2000. Austin firefighters extinguished the smoldering remains of a $23,000 Lincoln Town Car in a remote area of south Austin on April 28, 2002. The inside of the vehicle had been doused with gasoline. The vehicle was not reported stolen until minutes before AFD’s Captain of Inves-tigations Aaron Woolverton placed a call to the Granado residence inquiring about their car. When Granado finally agreed to meet with fire investigators at her home after dark, she was dressed in a long sleeved shirt, which hid her flash burns. An anonymous caller told investigators that Granada had set the car on fire and had been burned in the process. Austin fire investigators checked medical records showing Granado had been treated for burns. Two months after setting her car on fire, Granado was arrested. In October 2003, Granado pled guilty and received a 10 year probated sentence. A Travis County District Court Judge ordered her to provide restitution to her insurance carrier for the cost of a rental car for one month as well as provide community service. The arson hotline reward system was the brainchild of the State Fire Marshal’s Office and A Texas Advisory Council on Arson, a group of fire, law enforcement and insurance investigators who advise the SFMO on matters pertaining to arson investigations. Higher rewards are offered to callers who assist arson investigators on fires involving injuries or fatalities.