A suspicious house fire in Cherokee Oct. 10 led to the arrest of two people. According to court records, Cherokee Assistant Police Chief Ryan O’Neil arrived at 821 S. Pennsylvania just before 8 p.m. to assist Cherokee Police Officer Brock Phillips at the fire. The residence at that location had extensive fire damage on the south side.

Phillips explained it appeared the fire might involve the manufacture of illegal narcotics. Cherokee Fire Chief Troy Eshelman also voiced the same suspicion.

McNeil accompanied Eshelman into the structure where they observed a bedroom on the south side had suffered the heaviest damage. McNeil observed a container of butane fuel and a small propane-type bottle with a small nipple on it, items he recognized as commonly used in a butane hash oil (BHO) extraction lab. This is the process by which Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is removed from marijuana using butane fuel to produce marijuana wax or dab.

Phillips said he observed a piece of pipe in the closet of the bedroom, also a necessary component of a BHO extraction lab. McNeil left the residence until a search warrant could be obtained. Phillips told McNeil when he arrived at the residence, he spoke with Mary Bazer who said she had been asleep when the fire started, and she was awakened by Daniel Engle throwing their children onto her.

Phillips said he spoke with a neighbor who said Bazer told her that she had been plugging in a space heater when the fire started and they ran out of the house.

Just after midnight, a search warrant was executed at the residence. Officers found numerous items of drug paraphernalia, some with residue. Inside a safe were items including a digital scale with residue, a small mirror with residue, and other paraphernalia. Several of the items field tested positive for methamphetamine.

Both Mary Alexandra Bazer, 29, of Cherokee and Daniel Paul Engle Jr., 29, of Cherokee have been charged with child neglect, a felony, for failing to protect their children ages 3 and 5 from exposure to the use and possession of illegal drugs. This crime is punishable in the custody of the Department of Corrections not exceeding life imprisonment, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $5,000, or both such fine and imprisonment. In addition, Bazer and Engle are charged with misdemeanors of possession of controlled dangerous substance and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. Bond on the charges against Bazer and Engle totals $25,000 each.