Fund established
A fund has been set up to help pay for funerals of the three Wand children who died as the result of a house fire in Argyle Friday, Sept. 7, and for needed items for 2-year-old Jessica Wand, the only child to survive.
Checks can be made out to the Wand Children Benefit Fund. Donations can be sent to: Wand Children Benefit Fund, c/o Talmer Bank and Trust, 101 7 1/2 St., Monroe, WI 53566 or in person at the bank.
More information is available by calling Lessa Bobak, aunt of Sharon Wand, at (608) 558-0109.
ARGYLE - The sign in Bob Gilpatrick's office states the vision for the Argyle School District: "Every child is a promise."
"That's what keeps running through my head as I think about it," said Gilpatrick, Argyle's district administrator, pointing to the sign - three promises unfulfilled with the deaths of three young boys, killed as the result of a house fire early Friday morning, Sept. 7.
The boys' father, 32-year-old Armin G. Wand III, and uncle, Jeremy Wand, himself an Argyle student, were jailed over the weekend, awaiting charges of arson in the fatal fire. As of late Monday afternoon, Sept. 10, their mother, Sharon Wand, 27, was still in critical condition at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison with injuries sustained in the fire. The boys' 2-year-old sister, Jessica, survived the fire.
Allen Wand, 7, had just started first grade when the fall term began Tuesday, Sept. 4. Jeffery, 5, was in 5-year-old kindergarten, and youngest son Joseph, 3, was enrolled in the Early Childhood program, which began Monday.
School principal Nichole Schweitzer said she can't recall a time she saw the boys that they weren't smiling.
"The young boys will certainly be remembered," she said.
News of the fatal fire, which broke out just after 3 a.m. at the family home at 402 Oak St., came early for Schweitzer. Two school staff members are on the EMT squad for the village; they called Schweitzer, who in turn informed Gilpatrick around 5 a.m.
Jeremy Wand, 18, is a senior at the school. Gilpatrick said he didn't know Jeremy Wand well, but described him as a "decent student" who liked art. But Gilpatrick and Schweitzer, speaking in Gilpatrick's office Monday afternoon, prefer to keep the emphasis on the young victims, and helping the school and community move forward and heal from the tragic event.
To that end, the school brought counselors in both Friday and Monday. Schweitzer said the Pecatonica district lent Argyle two counselors, and Lafayette County also sent staff from its human services department. Counseling was available to staff, students and community members and will continue to be available as needed. Schweitzer said the service was "well-utilized."
She also said the response and support for the school has been "overwhelming" and is "much appreciated."
The school tried to keep its regular routine as much as possible, Gilpatrick said, to provide a sense of normalcy for the students.
Staff adjusted information about the fire that they shared with students based on "where the kids were at," Schweitzer said.
"They did a great job," she said.
"A house can be replaced"
Tom Zwicker, who has owned the two-bedroom house at 402 Oak St. for about two and a half years, was also trying to cope with the fire's aftermath Monday. He was at the house, along with an adjuster from the insurance company, trying to sort out the details. Zwicker said authorities had just released the house back to him Monday, allowing him to bring someone in to board it up and secure the fire-charred remnants.
He said he knew little about the Wand family, who had been renting the property for about a year. As far as he knew, they didn't cause trouble and paid their rent on time.
"They were never a day late," he said.
Sometimes, the family would stop by his shop, Amity Stripping Shop in Monroe, to pay the rent. He only saw all three boys together one time, but usually there was one or two along with one or both parents. The boys were nice kids, always well-mannered, he said. He never saw the little girl.
The house is pretty much a loss, he said. Despite the gaping hole in front of the house, it appears to have been a cozy residence. There's a deck, large shed in back, a big tree in the front yard, and the street is quiet. "The neighbors are great," Zwicker said.
He got to know them when he was fixing up the place. Zwicker said he spent a lot of time there, putting in a new kitchen and pantry, and updating the house with paint and new carpeting after he purchased it. He put the house on the market, but also contemplated moving from Monroe into the place himself. After he wasn't able to sell it through a realtor, he put a sign in the yard - for sale or rent. That's when the Wands began renting the property.
He realizes his loss of property pales to the loss of human lives - especially such young lives.
"A house can be replaced, but the kids can't," he said. "And that's what is a shame."
The thought that Armin Wand may be responsible for the fire baffles Zwicker, himself the father of two grown daughters.
"My God, how can a father do that?"
He feels for the young victims.
"It's just a shame it happened to little kids," he said. "I hope they are better off ... in better hands."
Details still unclear
Officials have been guarded when releasing information about the fire, citing an ongoing investigation by the state fire marshal. Zwicker said even as the property owner, he hasn't been told where the fire started, or any other details.
"They're not telling nobody, nothing. Including me," he said.
Investigators were on the scene all day Friday; the Argyle police department requested the state fire marshal at the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation step in to assist with the investigation. Then on Sunday, officials announced they had taken Armin Wand III and Jeremy Wand into custody, with both facing a tentative charge of arson of a building with intent to defraud. Typically, that charge is used to prosecute someone believed to be using arson to defraud an insurance company.
Both men have had brushes with law enforcement before. Jeremy Wand pleaded not guilty in August in Lafayette County Circuit Court to a charge of entry into a building or construction site and one charge of resisting or obstructing an officer. Both are class A misdemeanors. His next court date on that case was scheduled for Sept. 24.
According to an online records search, Armin Wand has a longer history of infractions in Green, Lafayette and Monroe counties. He was found guilty of disorderly conduct in February; battery in 2005; knowingly violating a child abuse order, issuance of worthless checks and misappropriation of personal property, all in 2003; and numerous traffic violations and small claims judgments.
As of Monday evening, court dates for Armin Wand and Jeremy Wand had not been set in Lafayette County Circuit Court.
"The kids were happy"
Lessa Bobak, Sharon Wand's aunt by marriage, has put together a benefit fund to help pay for the boys' funerals, as well as provide for Jessica Wand. Her husband is the step-brother of Sharon Wand's mother; while Bobak said she doesn't have frequent contact with Sharon Wand, they speak on the phone occasionally. Sometimes, Bobak sees Sharon Wand when she takes the two oldest boys to play basketball through the parks and recreation program.
"Sharon is a very good mom," she said. "The kids were happy."
Sharon grew up in the Camp Douglas-Tomah area. She attended Monticello school for awhile but graduated from Tomah. She married Armin Wand in 2004 and recently planned to go back to school to get her CNA degree.
Bobak has been up to see her niece, who remains unconscious and has serious burns to her lungs, a couple of times since the fire.
"She's not doing well," Bobak said Monday afternoon. Initially given a 20 percent chance of recovery, Sharon Wand's odds have been downgraded to 1 to 10 percent, Bobak said.
Family members report Sharon Wand was about four months pregnant, but has reportedly lost the baby since her hospitalization.
Bobak said her reaction to Armin Wand's arrest was "disbelief." Initially, there were some "grumblings" as family members speculated why Sharon Wand had been burned so badly, but Armin Wand escaped without serious injury.
For his part, Armin Wand said in published news reports that he tried to stop the fire, while his wife ran outside for help. But by the time he realized the fire was out of control, Armin Wand said, he couldn't reach his sons.
Despite the earlier doubts, Armin Wand's arrest "put everyone in shock. There's a lot of disbelief," Bobak said.
For now, Bobak is focusing on the children. Family and friends are taking care of Jessica, she said, and she is trying to raise money to help bury the boys. (See box) There's no insurance, and the family doesn't have the funds to pay for funerals, she said. Funeral arrangements are pending at Erickson Funeral Home.
"We want to give them a decent burial," she said.
"They deserve at least that."
"That's what keeps running through my head as I think about it," said Gilpatrick, Argyle's district administrator, pointing to the sign - three promises unfulfilled with the deaths of three young boys, killed as the result of a house fire early Friday morning, Sept. 7.
The boys' father, 32-year-old Armin G. Wand III, and uncle, Jeremy Wand, himself an Argyle student, were jailed over the weekend, awaiting charges of arson in the fatal fire. As of late Monday afternoon, Sept. 10, their mother, Sharon Wand, 27, was still in critical condition at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison with injuries sustained in the fire. The boys' 2-year-old sister, Jessica, survived the fire.
Allen Wand, 7, had just started first grade when the fall term began Tuesday, Sept. 4. Jeffery, 5, was in 5-year-old kindergarten, and youngest son Joseph, 3, was enrolled in the Early Childhood program, which began Monday.
School principal Nichole Schweitzer said she can't recall a time she saw the boys that they weren't smiling.
"The young boys will certainly be remembered," she said.
News of the fatal fire, which broke out just after 3 a.m. at the family home at 402 Oak St., came early for Schweitzer. Two school staff members are on the EMT squad for the village; they called Schweitzer, who in turn informed Gilpatrick around 5 a.m.
Jeremy Wand, 18, is a senior at the school. Gilpatrick said he didn't know Jeremy Wand well, but described him as a "decent student" who liked art. But Gilpatrick and Schweitzer, speaking in Gilpatrick's office Monday afternoon, prefer to keep the emphasis on the young victims, and helping the school and community move forward and heal from the tragic event.
To that end, the school brought counselors in both Friday and Monday. Schweitzer said the Pecatonica district lent Argyle two counselors, and Lafayette County also sent staff from its human services department. Counseling was available to staff, students and community members and will continue to be available as needed. Schweitzer said the service was "well-utilized."
She also said the response and support for the school has been "overwhelming" and is "much appreciated."
The school tried to keep its regular routine as much as possible, Gilpatrick said, to provide a sense of normalcy for the students.
Staff adjusted information about the fire that they shared with students based on "where the kids were at," Schweitzer said.
"They did a great job," she said.
"A house can be replaced"
Tom Zwicker, who has owned the two-bedroom house at 402 Oak St. for about two and a half years, was also trying to cope with the fire's aftermath Monday. He was at the house, along with an adjuster from the insurance company, trying to sort out the details. Zwicker said authorities had just released the house back to him Monday, allowing him to bring someone in to board it up and secure the fire-charred remnants.
He said he knew little about the Wand family, who had been renting the property for about a year. As far as he knew, they didn't cause trouble and paid their rent on time.
"They were never a day late," he said.
Sometimes, the family would stop by his shop, Amity Stripping Shop in Monroe, to pay the rent. He only saw all three boys together one time, but usually there was one or two along with one or both parents. The boys were nice kids, always well-mannered, he said. He never saw the little girl.
The house is pretty much a loss, he said. Despite the gaping hole in front of the house, it appears to have been a cozy residence. There's a deck, large shed in back, a big tree in the front yard, and the street is quiet. "The neighbors are great," Zwicker said.
He got to know them when he was fixing up the place. Zwicker said he spent a lot of time there, putting in a new kitchen and pantry, and updating the house with paint and new carpeting after he purchased it. He put the house on the market, but also contemplated moving from Monroe into the place himself. After he wasn't able to sell it through a realtor, he put a sign in the yard - for sale or rent. That's when the Wands began renting the property.
He realizes his loss of property pales to the loss of human lives - especially such young lives.
"A house can be replaced, but the kids can't," he said. "And that's what is a shame."
The thought that Armin Wand may be responsible for the fire baffles Zwicker, himself the father of two grown daughters.
"My God, how can a father do that?"
He feels for the young victims.
"It's just a shame it happened to little kids," he said. "I hope they are better off ... in better hands."
Details still unclear
Officials have been guarded when releasing information about the fire, citing an ongoing investigation by the state fire marshal. Zwicker said even as the property owner, he hasn't been told where the fire started, or any other details.
"They're not telling nobody, nothing. Including me," he said.
Investigators were on the scene all day Friday; the Argyle police department requested the state fire marshal at the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation step in to assist with the investigation. Then on Sunday, officials announced they had taken Armin Wand III and Jeremy Wand into custody, with both facing a tentative charge of arson of a building with intent to defraud. Typically, that charge is used to prosecute someone believed to be using arson to defraud an insurance company.
Both men have had brushes with law enforcement before. Jeremy Wand pleaded not guilty in August in Lafayette County Circuit Court to a charge of entry into a building or construction site and one charge of resisting or obstructing an officer. Both are class A misdemeanors. His next court date on that case was scheduled for Sept. 24.
According to an online records search, Armin Wand has a longer history of infractions in Green, Lafayette and Monroe counties. He was found guilty of disorderly conduct in February; battery in 2005; knowingly violating a child abuse order, issuance of worthless checks and misappropriation of personal property, all in 2003; and numerous traffic violations and small claims judgments.
As of Monday evening, court dates for Armin Wand and Jeremy Wand had not been set in Lafayette County Circuit Court.
"The kids were happy"
Lessa Bobak, Sharon Wand's aunt by marriage, has put together a benefit fund to help pay for the boys' funerals, as well as provide for Jessica Wand. Her husband is the step-brother of Sharon Wand's mother; while Bobak said she doesn't have frequent contact with Sharon Wand, they speak on the phone occasionally. Sometimes, Bobak sees Sharon Wand when she takes the two oldest boys to play basketball through the parks and recreation program.
"Sharon is a very good mom," she said. "The kids were happy."
Sharon grew up in the Camp Douglas-Tomah area. She attended Monticello school for awhile but graduated from Tomah. She married Armin Wand in 2004 and recently planned to go back to school to get her CNA degree.
Bobak has been up to see her niece, who remains unconscious and has serious burns to her lungs, a couple of times since the fire.
"She's not doing well," Bobak said Monday afternoon. Initially given a 20 percent chance of recovery, Sharon Wand's odds have been downgraded to 1 to 10 percent, Bobak said.
Family members report Sharon Wand was about four months pregnant, but has reportedly lost the baby since her hospitalization.
Bobak said her reaction to Armin Wand's arrest was "disbelief." Initially, there were some "grumblings" as family members speculated why Sharon Wand had been burned so badly, but Armin Wand escaped without serious injury.
For his part, Armin Wand said in published news reports that he tried to stop the fire, while his wife ran outside for help. But by the time he realized the fire was out of control, Armin Wand said, he couldn't reach his sons.
Despite the earlier doubts, Armin Wand's arrest "put everyone in shock. There's a lot of disbelief," Bobak said.
For now, Bobak is focusing on the children. Family and friends are taking care of Jessica, she said, and she is trying to raise money to help bury the boys. (See box) There's no insurance, and the family doesn't have the funds to pay for funerals, she said. Funeral arrangements are pending at Erickson Funeral Home.
"We want to give them a decent burial," she said.
"They deserve at least that."