Matthew A. Jurado told North Tonawanda police Thursday that he poured a bottle of lighter fluid on the couch in the apartment of Kenneth D. Walker, the city’s only African-American firefighter, and lit it.
However, Jurado said he did it because he was angry about being suspended from the Fire Department – not because of Walker’s race.
Jurado was ousted from Live Hose Company in July for failure to complete training, according to a statement to police by Firefighter Kenneth J. Kozlowski, president of the city Firefighters Association. Walker, who lives across Oliver Street from Jurado, is a member of Gratwick Hose Company.
“OK, I’ll tell you the truth. It wasn’t racial, nothing like that,” Jurado is quoted as saying in a court document filed with the arson complaint against him.