COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say surveillance video from a fatal Council Bluffs house fire in February shows the homeowner’s estranged husband entering the house before it caught fire. The Council Bluffs Police Department says the video shows 43-year-old Mark Vander Woude backing into the house’s driveway with a van on Feb. 25. A fire begins several minutes later. Woude died in the fire, which damaged the entire house. No one else was home at the time.
Investigators believe Woude broke into the house through a back door, and brought in flammable liquids after opening the garage door. Woude once shared the house with his wife and their three children. Police say the couple had separated, and his wife had a protection order against him.