The West Burlington Police Department has confirmed the identity of the man who engaged police in a 14-hour standoff at his home Monday before setting fire to the house and succumbing to the blaze.
Firefighters discovered the body of Michael Kartel, 62, Monday night in the basement of his home at 414 E. Pennington St. in West Burlington. Kartel had barricaded himself inside the house while threatening police with a firearm believed to be a shotgun, brandishing the weapon when officers arrived. Kartel suffered no gunshot wounds, self-inflicted or otherwise, according to authorities.
In a press release issued Tuesday evening, West Burlington Police Chief Jesse Logan said an autopsy will be performed in Ankeny, and the results won’t be available for several weeks.
West Burlington Fire Chief Shaun Ryan provided additional details about the standoff on Tuesday, saying police advised the fire department to be on standby at 7:30 a.m. on Monday. Firefighters were finally called to the scene after Kartel set fire to his house about 2 p.m. on Monday.
Concerned nearby students would be at risk as they walked home from school, negotiators with the Des Moines County Tactical team gave Kartel a time limit to come out of the house, beginning at about 2 p.m.
Kartel stopped talking to police after that, responding by lighting and then extinguishing several fires inside his home over the next couple of hours. He fired his weapon out the window at least eight times between each small fire. Police did not return fire, and no one was hit by gunfire.
The periodic gunfire made fighting the fire impossible without putting firefighters at risk, and police kept the fire department a block away to ensure their safety as smoke streamed from inside the house.
Kartel set the last fire at 4:30 p.m., and the constant smoke turned to visible flames.
At that point, fire crews moved in to fight the blaze, extinguishing it at about 5:40 p.m. on Tuesday. The West Burlington Fire Department remained on the scene until 11 p.m., according to officials. By then, the house was a smoking pile of rubble. Kartel was the only person inside the home, police said.
The Des Moines County Tactical Team fired tear gas rounds into the residence to coax Kartel out. The non-pyrotechnic rounds are made for indoor use and did not cause the fires. An investigation of the scene revealed that Kartel used fire accelerants to foster the blaze.
Court records show Kartel had previous run-ins with authorities. He was awaiting prosecution on charges of harassment and driving while intoxicated. Police were initially called to Kartel’s house at 2:40 a.m. Monday for a welfare check regarding a woman who had been assaulted.
Kartel also had a nearly decade-long dispute with the city of West Burlington over the condition of his yard, which he claimed was full of sinkholes due to a leaky storm sewer pipe under his property. The city claimed the leakage was caused by the drainage tile installed by the previous owner.
At the time (April 2017), Kartel said he was looking for a way to pay for a lawyer, believing he could prove the city had damaged his property through negligence.
In a Facebook post dated Jan. 5, Kartel said he was having a nervous breakdown, saying he was a danger to himself.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is handling the investigation of the incident.
Photo by Joy Mack