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MESA — Gilbert police may have accidentally burned down a home because a man inside was shooting at them.

Officers used a flash-bang grenade to distract the man as he fired at them. The officers were there to serve a search warrant to a man who was not in the home and may not live there.

When police tried to serve the warrant, 73-year-old Salvador Celaya began shooting at the officers. His daughter, Sonia Celaya, said her father has Alzheimer's and thought the officers were robbers invading his house.

Also inside the house were Celaya's wife, 69-year-old Carlota Celaya, and his 26-year-old grandson, Ronnie Vance.

Sonia Celaya said no one in the house heard police announce they were serving a search warrant over a loudspeaker, and that flames appeared in a bedroom of the home minutes after police used the flash-bang grenade.

As the home burned, officers used a beanbag gun and tear gas to get Salvador Celaya out of the house. Eventually, he ran into the backyard, where police tackled him and took the gun. His wife and grandson had already taken cover.

The home was destroyed, but no one was hurt.

Gilbert police spokesman Sgt. Andrew Duncan said the blaze was able to grow and engulf the home because officers and firefighters could not get near the house while Celaya still had the gun.

"It is very unfortunate that the house burned," Duncan said. "Our officers used extreme restraint in dealing with a man that was firing at officers."

Salvador Celaya was taken to a police station for questioning. He was later released.

Police said neither he nor his grandson are suspected of any crimes.

They said they were at the home because earlier in the week, they had found a Cadillac Escalade near the home they believe was stolen by 23-year-old Erasmo Ruiz Villarreal, Scottsdale police Sgt. Mark Clark said.

Clark said the Escalade was registered to the Phoenix home that was burned. Clark added that "other investigative sources" pointed to the house as a place where police could find stolen goods from a Gilbert burglary in which Villarreal is a suspect.

Sonia Celaya said the Escalade is hers, but that it was in the repair shop Sunday and had not been stolen or missing.

She said she is angry with Gilbert and Scottsdale police and blames them for the fire that destroyed her parents' home of 35 years.

"This is wrong," she said. "They threw my parents on the street as if they were criminals.

"Thirty-five years they've been here," she said. "Thirty-five years."

She said her parents are staying with their son in Tempe and are considering legal action against the police departments.

Duncan said Gilbert police will conduct an inquiry to determine if proper procedures were followed.

Phoenix Fire Department investigators have not determined the cause of the blaze.