April 17--SAN FRANCISCO -- Cadaver dogs detected possible human remains Wednesday at the site of a five-alarm fire set by a homeless man that destroyed a building once used as a studio by television station KNTV in downtown San Jose, authorities said.
Stillman Pfeffer, 55, was booked into Santa Clara County Jail early Monday, hours after police say he set the fire at 645 Park Ave. at a vacant building that a number of transients had lived in.
A witness told police that her puppy died in the blaze and that she saw Pfeffer squirting a liquid onto a mattress seconds before the fire began about 3 p.m. Sunday, authorities said.
Prosecutors have charged Pfeffer with arson and burglary. He could face murder charges if authorities confirm through excavation that human remains are in the rubble, authorities said.
One firefighter suffered minor burns and a second had heat exhaustion, said fire Capt. Cleo Doss. Both were treated at the scene and released.
Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @henryklee
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