Wisconsin man sentenced to 15 years in prison for 2022 structure fire that killed two people

STURGEON BAY, Wis. (AP) — A man convicted of involuntary manslaughter for starting a 2022 fire that killed two people as he destroyed a Wisconsin building housing a bar and rented rooms was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

A judge on Friday also sentenced 60-year-old Anthony Gonzalez to 15 years of extended supervision for the fire at Butch’s Bar and the building’s upper apartments, the Appleton Post-Crescent reported.

The fire in February 2022 killed two tenants living above the Sturgeon Bay Bar, Victor Jurss and Gary Heise, and seriously injured a third tenant. Gonzalez told investigators he accidentally started the fire in his room above the bar while trying to refill a cigarette lighter.

His attorney argued that the building had no fire safety equipment and said Gonzalez was not reckless because he tried to put out the fire and knocked on other tenants’ doors to alert them to the fire.

A jury convicted Gonzalez in January of two counts of second-degree manslaughter and five counts of second-degree recklessly endangering safety. His lawyer said she plans to appeal the verdict.

Door County Judge D. Todd Ehlers said in sentencing Friday that Gonzalez blamed others for both the fire and his convictions and that he showed a lack of remorse.

Sturgeon Bay is located on Lake Michigan, about 70 kilometers northeast of Green Bay.

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