Lighter Fluid Suspected Cause of Butch’s Bar Fire

In the frigid, early-morning hours of Tuesday, Feb. 22, firefighters battle a fire at Butch’s Bar, 112 S. 3rd Ave. in Sturgeon Bay. Photo by Mike Brisson.

Anthony Gonzalez, 57, held on $250,000 cash bail

A man filling his Zippo-style lighter then striking the lighter to smoke a cigarette is believed to be the cause of the fire responsible for the deaths of two people at Butch’s Bar in Sturgeon Bay.

The information came out during the bond hearing for Anthony Gonzalez, held Friday afternoon at Door County Circuit Court. Gonzalez, 57, was arrested earlier on Friday for two felony counts of Second Degree Reckless Homicide, and five felony counts of Second Degree Recklessly Endangering Safety. 

Initially, the arrest release contained seven counts of Recklessly Endangering Safety, but Door County District Attorney Colleen Nordin confirmed for the Pulse following the bond hearing that there were only seven people total inside the building at the time of the fire, and the initial release was a typo.

Judge Todd Ehlers presided inside the courtroom where Nordin read a narrative of the details investigators had compiled to date, including statements from Gonzalez. Gonzalez appeared via Zoom from the Door County Jail and his attorney also appeared virtually.

Nordin said the call came into dispatch at 3:37 am on Feb. 22 that the upper part of the building was filling with smoke and people were trying to get out. Smoke was observed venting from the building at 3:39 am. Firefighters would use the ladder truck to rescue a man coming out a second floor window. That man would be transported to Milwaukee for burns and smoke inhalation. 

According to Nordin’s stated narrative, Gonzalez, who had lived in one of the second-floor rooms for the past two years, awoke in the early morning hours of Feb. 22 and wanted to smoke a cigarette but needed to fill his Zippo-style lighter. He had fallen asleep with the TV on, but couldn’t see very well, according to the narrative, and butane sprayed for 15-20 seconds all over his hands and mattress before he was able to get the fluid into his lighter. He then struck the lighter twice to light a cigarette and it caught the mattress on fire. He tried to smother the flame with a pillow, then went for the wall extinguisher and used it on the bed. He thought he had put out the flames but then saw smoke near the ceiling and ran outside his room, knocked on the doors of fellow renters and told someone to call 911, according to the narrative. When he ran back to his room it was too hot to enter. By the time he ran down the stairs, he said he didn’t see flames, just smoke, according to the narrative. 

Nordin said he was not under the influence of alcohol or any other substance. She also said he was currently out on active bond from previous charges, including bail jumping and the manufacture and delivery of amphetamines.

Gonzalez is being held on $250,000 cash bond and was ordered not to have any contact with the other residents of the building, or the relatives of the two men who had been recovered from the fire scene, the first one on Tuesday, the second on Thursday. 

Judge Ehlers said that given the “seriousness of charges and number of charges,” the “significant bond” Nordin asked for was necessary.

The criminal complaint was not filed on Friday, but will be before Gonzalez makes his initial appearance on Monday, Feb. 28 at 11:45 am.