Father says Marine van blaze was accidental Not suicidal over son’s Iraq death, man claims

BOSTON – The father of a Marine killed in combat in Iraq said he was distressed but didn’t try to commit suicide when he set fire to the van of the military officers who broke the news to him in Florida, according to a published report.

“I did not intend to start a fire. I am sorry that the fire started,” Carlos Arredondo, 44, told the Patriot Ledger of Quincy.

Three Marines arrived at Arredondo’s home in Hollywood, Fla., on Aug. 25 to tell him that his 20-year-old son, Lance Cpl. Alexander Arredondo of Randolph, had been killed in Iraq.

As they tried to console him, the father walked into the garage, picked up a propane tank, a can of gasoline and a propane torch.

He smashed the van’s window, got inside and set it ablaze, despite pleas from the Marines to stop.

The Marines, reservists who are members of a military Casualty Assistance Calls team, pulled Arredondo from the burning vehicle and extinguished the flames on him. None of the Marines suffered injuries.

Arredondo, despite his injuries, took a flight to Boston on Wednesday to attend his son’s funeral on Saturday.

Arredondo, in an interview from his hospital room at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, told the Patriot Ledger that the fire was an accident. He said he was trying to make the Marines leave his home.

Arredondo said his mother was at his side and when she began to pull him from the van, the torch accidentally ignited.

“My mother was standing right there,” he said. “I would never risk hurting her. I love her, love my wife and sons. I have a lot of people around who care about me, and I would never do anything suicidal.”

Alexander Arredondo, who turned 20 last month, grew up in Norwood and moved to Randolph in 1999. He joined the Marines after he graduated from Blue Hills Regional Technical School in 2002.

The Defense Department said that Arredondo died while fighting in Najaf, Iraq. He was assigned to the Marine Corps Base in Camp Pendleton, Calif.

The father said he was overcome with grief.

“I was crying, screaming inside the van,” he said. “My mother was at the van door the whole time, trying to get me out. I was suffering because of the situation.

“I apologize to all the people, the Marines, for doing this,” he continued. “I want to be seen as a true American, like I am a true supporter of my son.”

The Marines said they won’t press charges, and Hollywood police said last week that legal action is unlikely.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated for Alexander Arredondo on Saturday at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston.