GREG DAILY

People stand outside the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house on University Hill on Friday afternoon October 3, 2008 in Boulder, Colorado. a flaming bottle of lighter fluid was thrown into the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house early Friday morning in Boulder, Colorado October 3, 2008. For the Camera/ Greg Daily

Someone tossed a homemade explosive into the ground floor of a fraternity house on University Hill early Friday, leading to a brawl that some witnesses described as a "war."

The incident -- which left one man with serious injuries, including broken bones -- happened at 2:15 a.m. in the back yard of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house at 1146 12th St.

Boulder police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said someone in an alley outside the house threw a 32-ounce jug filled with lighter fluid and duct-taped to a lit firework into an area near the dining room on the east side of the house.

A member of the fraternity spotted the "small explosion and small fire," Huntley said, and kicked the device out onto a concrete patio before serious damage could be done to the house.

No one was injured from the smoke or flames, Huntley said, but as officers were arriving as many as 35 people had spilled into the alley and were fighting.

"One victim was lying in the middle of the alleyway who appeared to have been punched in the jaw," Huntley said.

The injured man, 20-year-old SAE member Andrew Hansen, was hospitalized for broken facial bones and a deep cut, Huntley said.

Escalating rivalry?

Police have not identified suspects in the assault or the attempted arson, Huntley said, though they suspect it could have been the result of tension between nearby neighbors or members of Kappa Sigma, another fraternity around the corner on Pennsylvania Avenue.

"We have been told there have been sort of previous hostilities," Huntley said. "There may be some animosity involving some other fraternity house stemming from vandalism of vehicles."

Last week, police responded to the SAE house on a report of a vandalized fence.

Huntley stressed that information that members of Kappa Sigma were involved has not been substantiated, and that the information was "very much word of mouth."

A spokesman for that fraternity did not return phone calls Friday.

At an apartment building next door to the vandalized SAE house, several residents gathered Friday -- none of whom would give their names -- insisted they were not involved in the fire or fight except that they were home at the time.

At a separate neighboring house, Matthew McReynolds, a 19-year-old CU student, said he saw most of the incident.

"There were 10 guys face to face," McReynolds said of the start of the fight. "One guy throws a punch and it was a melee for like two minutes with people getting hit."

Regardless of who was responsible for throwing the Molotov cocktail, Huntley said police are concerned that, "What may appear at the surface to be a rivalry ... could be escalating to something more serious."

Jess Havill, vice president of the SAE chapter, would not discuss the event Friday and prevented several other members from speaking about it.

'Penalties will be severe'

Marc Stine, a spokesman for CU fraternities contracted by the Interfraternity Council at CU, said the men at SAE are concerned for their safety and the property manager has hired private security guards to stand watch for the next several days.

"Someone threw a fire bomb into a house that people live in," Stine said. "Thankfully, the fire-response system worked as it should and we had an immediate and clean evacuation, or we could have had a genuinely tragic event."

He said there is no solid evidence another fraternity was involved, and being a member of a fraternity often puts a target on the men's backs.

"Throwing a fire bomb into a house where people sleep is just totally beyond Greek bashing," he said. "This is a good group of guys with no history of being a problem to other people."

Bronson Hilliard, a CU spokesman, called the event a "pretty reckless, stupid, irresponsible thing for somebody to do."

"It's another example of students committing violence against one another when they don't need to," Hilliard said.

If anyone involved in the fight or in making the incendiary device are found to be CU students, he said, "the penalties will be severe" and could include expulsion from the university.

Parties possible

At the SAE house, a large residential building in the heart of the Hill, beer cans and bottles littered the front and back yards Friday morning.

Huntley, the police spokeswoman, said investigators think there was a party outside the neighboring apartment building as well as an early-morning gathering at the SAE house when the incident happened.

Both she and Stine, the Greek spokesman, said they weren't sure how much of a role alcohol may have played in the fight.

The SAE spokesman acknowledged there were more than 100 people at the house Thursday night -- but he insisted it was not a party, just a gathering of SAE members. Fraternities are required to notify police and fire officials 72 hours in advance of any planned parties.

The SAE chapter relocated to 12th Street in August, and has been an organized group offering membership to CU students for the past six years.

The building is the primary residence for 25 men, with another 65 members of the fraternity living off campus. The group concluded its annual rush week Sept. 28.

Police are asking anyone with information about the fire bomb or the fight to call detectives at 303-441-3333.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Heath Urie at 303-473-1328 or urieh@dailycamera.com.