KENT, Wash. (AP) -- Bail has been set at $1 million for a homeless man accused of stabbing another transient during a fight witnessed by local firefighters.

Three Kent firefighters in two engines witnessed Tuesday's altercation while waiting at a red light, department spokesman Lt. Pat Pawlak said Thursday. They switched on their siren when they realized what was going on, and yelled at the men to stop fighting.

The noise apparently distracted one of the men, who was threatening the other with a golf club, fire crews later told police.

The second man then grabbed the golf club from the first and used it to strike his opponent, the firefighters said. When the head of the golf club snapped off, he used the broken shaft to stab the other man in the chest.

The stabbing victim - identified Thursday by the King County medical examiner as James Grant Phillips, 44 - died at the scene despite efforts by fire crews and King County paramedics.

The assailant - later identified as Carl Alan Gentis, 41 - fled the scene but later was found a few blocks away and arrested without incident.

He was being held for investigation of second-degree murder. King County prosecutors likely will file charges Friday, spokesman Dan Satterberg said.

Bail was set Wednesday at a a preliminary hearing in King County South District Court, where Gentis appeared agitated, exhaling loudly and glowering at authorities.

The firefighters did not intervene in the fight because they are not trained to do so, Fire Chief Jim Schneider said Wednesday. They were following department policy, he said.

And it may already have been too late, department spokesman Lt. Kyle Ohashi said.

``I think at the point where they got close, the fight was pretty well over and the guy was on the ground,'' he said.

The fire crews called police and provided a description of Gentis.

Area transients said Gentis was usually easygoing, but that he had been the subject of increasing animosity. Many believed Gentis was stealing from them and from a local business.

``He steals things, then he worries about people getting too close to his things because he's afraid they'll find the things he's stolen,'' one homeless woman who declined to give her name told the King County Journal.

Mike Shramm, who had known the victim several years, concurred. He said his bicycle was recently stolen by Gentis.

Shramm said he and Phillips and others had talked about confronting Gentis about the thefts.

``It must have been something that built up to make Grant angry like that,'' said another transient, Don Okerson. ``He's usually an easygoing guy.''

Information from: King County Journal