CLEARFIELD, Utah, Jan. 10, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — A man is facing felony charges after a Clearfield apartment Sunday which displaced multiple families, caused an estimated $500,000 in damages and killed pets.
Cameron Ernie Grover, 23, faces initial charges of:
- Criminal mischief – reckless cause/threat critical infrastructure, a second-degree felony
- Burglary, a third-degree misdemeanor
- Use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor
North Davis Fire officials responded to the apartment complex fire, in the area of 225 E 1800 South, at about 11 a.m.
“Officers arrived to find one of the apartments (#A) was fully engulfed with flames,” says Grover’s probable cause statement, filed by an officer of the Clearfield Police Department. “Officers were directed to a male who was later identified as Cameron Grover.”
An officer approached Grover and “asked Cameron if he saw anything regarding the fire,” the statement says.
“Cameron told Officer Christensen, ‘I think this is all my fault.'”
Grover told officers than on Saturday, he had been with friends, mixing drugs and shooting up, when they kicked him out of the car for being rude.
“He stated he was let out to walk in Layton,” the affidavit says. “While he was walking around Layton city, he noticed he didn’t have his cell phone. He knew he left it in his friend’s vehicle. He then started to walk to his friend’s home in Clearfield at 226 E. 1800 S. He knocked on the front door and no one was home.”
Grover told the officer he went into the shed at about 2 or 3 a.m. Sunday.
“Cameron stated he was cold and decided to start a fire inside the shed to stay warm. Cameron admitted to using cardboard and a lighter he had in his backpack to start the fire. He put blankets on top of the fire to stay warm. He stated there were no flames,
but the blankets were warm, that they were smoldering.”
Grover told the officer he fell asleep, and awoke before sunrise.
“Before leaving the shed he poured water onto the blankets and cardboard to put it out. He stated he lifted the blankets and poured water on the cardboard then put the blankets down and poured water on them,” his probable cause statement says. “He stated he stepped on everything and then walked out.”
Grover told officers he went to a female friend’s residence to make two phone calls, and he was there when someone started banging on his friend’s door to say there was a fire in the shed.
“He stated he and other people from the complex grabbed a fire extinguisher and before they could use the fire extinguisher the fire got out of control.”
The fire damaged the shed, three residences at the complex, and vehicles parked nearby the statement says. The shed owner told officers “she never gave Cameron permission to be in her shed.”
Grover was found with two syringes on his person, the statement says, “and he stated meth and heroin.”
Grover is being held without bail in the Davis County jail.
North Davis Fire District Chief Mark Becraft shared the damage estimate with Gephardt Daily, and said at least two families have been confirmed displace. Becraft also said no residents or firefighters were hurt in the incident, but two cats died.
