AUSTIN (KXAN) — Investigators found “ignitable liquids” throughout a Wimberley bar that caught fire just days before it was set to close, according to a Hays County affidavit obtained by KXAN.
Aidan Lane Dwyer, an employee at Savage’s Hill Country Bar and Grill at the time of fire, was arrested in southeast Texas on Monday, according to a social media post from the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office. Dwyer, 24, was charged with arson.
Investigators also found that the lock box in the bar’s kitchen, where the restaurant key was kept, was open and empty. Dwyer was one of the employees who knew the combination to the lock box, said one of the bar’s co-owners in the affidavit.
Documents show that two of the building’s electrical panels were switched off. One of those panels powered the fire alarm system. The battery backups were disconnected, essentially turning off the fire alarm system. The security cameras were also turned off prior to the blaze.
On Sunday, investigators also spoke Dwyer’s roommate who claimed Dwyer previously talked about “burning it down,” referring to Savage’s, the affidavit said.
While arson investigators were on scene, the San Marcos Police Department was called out to an apartment complex, where they found a man covered in blood and severe burns screaming for help, documents state. Investigators said the man was a kitchen employee at Savage’s.
Investigators spoke to the man’s family at the hospital. The affidavit said that his family told investigators that he had burns across most of his body and had a 50% chance of survival. His family also told him that hospital staff said they found cleaning supply chemicals on his body. The affidavit notes that these chemicals are “often used to conceal, clean, and/or destroy evidence related to criminal offenses.”
In an interview with the bar’s co-owners, investigators learned that the hospitalized man was one of the last employees at the bar on June 26, the night before the fire. The co-owners, according to the affidavit, said to the best of their knowledge, none of the employees were upset when they learned Savage’s was closing.
The affidavit does not indicate if the other man will face any charges in connection with the fire.
