Dorm Fire May Have Been Intentional



Updated: Tue, Jul 03 8:46 PM EDT


   By CONNIE MABIN, Associated Press Writer

   AUSTIN (AP) - A University of Texas freshman intentionally set the fire
that killed him and severely burned his roommate at a high-rise
   luxury apartment building for students, investigators said Tuesday.

   A fire department report said Anoor Hajee used "an open flame and available
combustible materials" to set the May 1 fire which started in the
   living room. Investigators found a propane lighter and burned paper in
Hajee's bedroom at University Towers, near the school's Austin
   campus.

   The 18-year-old from Dallas was described by friends as a "happy-go-lucky
guy" who was often drunk, smoked marijuana and sometimes
   went too far with his pranks, the report said.

   Calls to Hajee's family went unanswered Tuesday.

   Officials said Hajee died of smoke inhalation. An autopsy showed his
blood-alcohol level was .11, above the legal limit of .08.

   His roommate, Ab-Latiff Zawardy, a 21-year-old sophomore from Malaysia,
suffered second- and third-degree burns over 45 percent of his
   body.

   Zawardy's attorney, James Furman, said his client would not immediately
comment on the report.

   Zawardy has told investigators he was awakened by the heat and walked to
the living room where he saw the couch on fire.

   According to the report, Hajee had returned from a party shortly before the
fire started. A security guard let him in because he did not have
   his keys.

   Hajee was cited last October for igniting a bag of feces at a dorm. He took
the blame when a sofa at his apartment caught fire in April,
   investigators said. A friend was sleeping on the sofa at the time but was
not injured.

Doug Gordner,CFSI-Fire Protection Specialist
Ithaca College Life Safety
101 Safety Building
Ithaca, New York 14850
(607)-274-1846
(607)-274-1868 (fax)
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