Phelps clan uses fire as opportunity to protest...

There was a fire at the Phelps clan's property and they decided to record the firefighters...and well...as long as a camera was out...might as well hold up a few signs and protest gays while the firefighters do their thing. How weird are these people?

Check out the video:
http://video.ap.org/v/Default.aspx?g=f37b6aa1-9419-4e0f-a3f2-c538ab8cae50&mk=en-ap&f=kstop

Updated: Phelps family wakes to garage fire
By Ann Marie Bush
The Capital-Journal
Published Saturday, August 2, 2008 at 4:06 p.m. CDT

Flames woke members of the Phelps family early this morning.

Topeka firefighters were dispatched to Westboro Baptist Church, 3701 S.W. 12th St., at 1:05 a.m. A fence and garage were engulfed in flames.

Lucas Mark and his girlfriend, Monique Webster, were in the drive-through of McDonald’s at S.W. Huntoon and Gage when they noticed flames in the east. They drove toward the flames and ended up at the church.

“We called 911,” Webster said. “My boyfriend knocked on the door.”

Mark notified an occupant that their garage was on fire.

Firefighters removed several of the Phelps’ signs from the garage as family members and neighbors watched.

Shortly after, family members began filming footage of the fire, taking photographs and documenting what occurred. Several carried signs as they watched.

A Topeka firefighter spokesman on the scene said although the fire started on the outside of the garage, it it isn't clear if it was arson. The spokesman said investigators would be brought in to determine the cause. He also said the damage was contained to a small area of the garage.

The cause of the fire wasn’t determined Saturday afternoon and remained under investigation, Topeka fire marshal Greg Bailey said.

"We won't rule anything out," Bailey said.

Investigators said the fire started outside the detached garage near two large trash can totes. Both trash cans and their contents were destroyed by the fire, which spread to the adjacent garage and wooden privacy fence. Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the outside of the garage.

Bailey said structural damage was estimated at $10,000, with no reported damage to the garage’s contents.

Shirley Phelps-Roper said she thinks the fire was intentionally set.

“None of what they do is going to stop us from delivering our message,” Phelps-Roper said as she watched firefighters continue to spray water on the garage.

“We’re not surprised by this,” Phelps-Roper said, adding that anyone who may have started the fire were “cowards.”

Phelps-Roper said firefighters responded and “did what they were supposed to do.”

As she pointed to the house where her parents live, she said, “There are two elderly people who live here.” Phelps-Roper said her mother, Margie Phelps, is 82 and her father, Fred Phelps Sr., is 78.

She also said this is the most aggressive act toward her family to date.