by Leslie Layton
posted April 18
This is the second story in a three-part series on the fire that destroyed Bidwell Mansion and the role the Mansion played in our community. Read the first story here.
The report issued by Butte County Probation in the Bidwell Mansion arson case begins to answer this troubling question: Why did a 30-year-old man with no criminal record set fire to the iconic Victorian?
But though it begins, it doesn’t entirely answer the big “why”: Why Kevin Alexander Carlson shattered a window with a hammer and doused the interior with a gallon of gasoline in a series of maneuvers that began the day before the early Dec. 11 fire. Or how the building became engulfed in flames before Chico Fire Department had a chance to respond.
Carlson is serving an 11-year prison sentence — the maximum possible for his conviction — at North Kern State Prison in connection with the fire that destroyed the 146-year-old former home of John and Annie Bidwell, the couple who are considered Chico’s founders. The medium-custody prison’s website says his earliest possible parole date — which is subject to change — is July 2030.
“The defendant deliberately set fire to a historic building of deep cultural and communal significance,” said the Butte County District Attorney’s Office in asking for the maximum sentence. “This level of premeditation distinguishes his conduct from impulsive or reckless arson …”
The Butte County Probation Department recommended a middle term, but Superior Court Judge Corie Caraway said she had received more than 100 victim impact statements from community members as well as other “aggravating factors.”
Chico Police Department said Carlson began preparations for the crime on Dec. 10, traveling to Oroville from Chico where he “purchased supplies needed to commit the arson.” He removed the license plates from his vehicle prior to setting the building on fire, Chico PD said.
Depressed and anxious
Carlson told investigators that he had awoken that December Tuesday feeling “manic” and “anxious,” and his mood had been affected by the “genocide” – a reference to the war on Gaza. He said he was “stressed about making rent.” His statement to investigators tracks his deepening alienation and despair over both his personal circumstances, as well as the contrast between the costly renovation of the Mansion and homelessness.
Chico PD reported on an interview with Carlson’s mother, who said her son was “was suspected of being autistic, is highly intelligent, and graduated at the top of his class.” Carlson graduated from Chico State in 2018 with a BA in mathematics.
She mentioned Carlson’s “alcoholism” and “intense hatred toward capitalism” as sources of tension for the Chico family.
Carlson, who would later plead no contest to a felony arson charge and accept the DA’s “special allegation,” told investigators he had only slept in “small increments” for a couple of weeks prior to the arson and “did not intend to burn the entire structure.” He wrote that he was “extremely depressed.”
“I remember feeling a deep sense of alienation as I walked by people going about their day,” he wrote about Dec. 10 in a statement submitted by the probation department. “… Looking at the disparity between those parts of my community, my grief shifted quickly to anger and in a snap judgment I decided I wanted to vandalize the mansion.”
Carlson’s statement includes a reference to John Bidwell as a man who was “known to exploit people.” But it was the disparity that seemed to disturb him, the fact that there was an effort underway to protect Bidwell’s “legacy” while “ignoring the less fortunate who live near the base of the mansion.”
His public defender, Larry Pilgrim, described Carlson as a “rebel looking for a cause,” and believes that Carlson was truthful in stating his expectation that Chico Fire Department would save the building. No psychiatric examination was ordered, in part because Pilgrim said Carlson didn’t consider himself “insane.”
Pilgrim said he doesn’t think Carlson was moved to action because of a singular and strong animosity toward John Bidwell. “I don’t think it was Bidwell per se; it was the haves versus the have-nots,” Pilgrim said. “It was a social justice thing.”
An alarm system failure
Pilgrim said he’s baffled that fire alarms and motion sensors didn’t alert Chico Fire Department much sooner and said the equipment should have been checked on a regular basis.
“It’s inexcusable that the fire department was not notified within minutes,” Pilgrim said. “The damage would have been minor, a hole in the carpet.”
Instead, Carlson has been ordered to pay $37,414,083 in restitution with 10% interest that runs from the date of the arson. Pilgrim called that restitution sum “ridiculous.”
“The whole question about the fire alarm … is still under investigation” — Matt Teague
Chico Fire arrived at the scene four minutes after Chico PD was advised that the Mansion was on fire. Pilgrim said the fire, though, had been “smoldering for over an hour.”
Fire Department Chief Steve Standridge said it’s true that there was a “delayed response because [the fire] didn’t get called in.” Standridge said the alarm system was under the responsibility of the Office of the State Fire Marshal. And in fact the Chico Fire Department’s web page notes that the “response … showcased the expertise and determination of our firefighters …”
Matt Teague, district superintendent for the Northern Buttes District of California State Parks, acknowledged that the fire alarm system didn’t operate as it should have. He noted that the system should issue an alarm if there is a fire, and the contracted monitoring company should make the appropriate calls.
“The whole question about the fire alarm and why it didn’t go off is still under investigation,” Teague said. “We may never have an answer though.”
Teague said there was also a burglar alarm system tied to motion sensors in the building that also failed.
There were no suppression sprinklers in the building, which is commonplace in historic buildings when there’s concern over possible water damage during a small fire or false alarm, Teague noted.
The alarm system failures don’t absolve his client of responsibility, Pilgrim said. Still, he argues that his client believed the Mansion would be saved by a sprinkler or other fire protection system.
“He thought he was committing an act of vandalism,” Pilgrim said. “I think he was just trying to make a little statement — stop spending this money on repairs when you could be spending it on nobler causes.”
Leslie Layton is editor of ChicoSol. Reporter Yucheng Tang contributed to this story.
Doesn’t matter that he was depressed or anxious. Most of us feel that way now and we are not out committing arson. He knows right from wrong. He knew he was doing the wrong thing and went thru great lengths to hide all the evidence prior to committing this act.