Father, uncle of three children killed in fire near Madison arrested for arson

The father and uncle of three children killed in a house fire Friday in Argyle have been arrested on suspicion of setting the fire, authorities announced Sunday.

Armin J. Wand III, 32, and Jeremy L. Wand, 18, both of Argyle, were booked into the Lafayette County Jail Saturday on tentative charges of arson of a building with intent to defraud, said Dana Brueck, spokeswoman for the DOJ. Armin Wand is the father of the three children who died in the fire, and Jeremy Wand is their uncle.

What evidence led to the arrests will have to wait for the criminal complaint, Brueck said Sunday.

"Further information to that effect will have to come from what is eventually filed," she said.

The children's mother, Sharon Wand, 27, remained in critical condition at UW Hospital Sunday after handing her youngest child, a 2-year-old daughter, to safety during the fire. The fire claimed the lives of the couple's three sons, ages 3, 5 and 7.

On Saturday, Armin Wand told told WKOW-TV that he first tried to fight the fire, which started about 3 a.m., while his wife ran outside for help. By the time he realized it was out of control, he said, he couldn't reach his sons.

The father and the daughter were treated at a hospital and released.

The fire in the one-story, two-bedroom house at 402 Oak St., was reported at about 3:10 a.m. Argyle is a village of 850 people 30 miles southwest of Madison.

A neighbor watching from about 100 yards away told the State Journal he was awakened around 3 a.m. by the screams of the children's father.

The investigation is being handled by the village of Argyle police department, the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department and the state Division of Criminal Investigation, which jointly announced the arrests Sunday.

(c)2012 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.)

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