Summerlin home fire likely arson

David Kihara

Friday, Aug. 12, 2005 | 9:38 a.m.

The fire that burned through a 3,300-square-foot home in Summerlin early today apparently was intentionally set, relatives and neighbors of the homeowners said.

The fire was reported around 3 a.m. at the home in the 2300 block of Delina Drive, near Lake Mead Boulevard at Rampart Boulevard, and destroyed much of the second floor of the house.

The owners of the house, Ken and Mimi Matonovich, were in Hawaii at the time of the fire, said Ernie Freggiaro, 58, a business associate.

Freggiaro said Ken Matonovich owns the Foothill Express bar.

Family members and business associates said the fire likely started through arson. "Someone broke in and started the fire," said Erica Yi, 41, the sister of Mimi.

Fire investigators at the scene refused to confirm or deny that arson was suspected.

Greg Hoffman, 57, who is the companion of Ken Matonovich's sister, said the fire "looks like the work of a sociopath." The fire apparently started in three locations in the upstairs of the house, including two bedrooms, Hoffman said.

In one bedroom, only the singed remains of some blankets on a bed indicated that a fire took place, while the next-door bedroom was entirely destroyed by the fire.

A neighbor, Aurora Andaya, who lives a few houses down from the Matonoviches, said she woke up at around 4:30 a.m. and saw flames billowing from the roof of the house.

She said she woke up in time to watch people pushing the Matonoviches' two Mercedes-Benz sedans and one white SUV out of the garage.

Hoffman said he would hate to come home from a vacation to a destroyed home. "Wouldn't your old lady have a cow if she came home to this?" he asked.