A Gilpin woman, wanting to join two fellow Freedomite Doukhobors in prison, burned down her own home this week, raising concern there could be more fires unless arsonists Mary Braun and Tina Zmaeff are released.

"I was so upset. . . . I sacrificed my home to be with the sisters," Pauline Berikoff, 50, said Wednesday. She was paroled last January after serving six months for burning a building in August, 1986 with Braun and Zmaeff.

Berikoff said she would not have tried to talk Braun, 67, and Zmaeff, 63, into giving up a fast they began 87 days ago.

A Gilpin woman, wanting to join two fellow Freedomite Doukhobors in prison, burned down her own home this week, raising concern there could be more fires unless arsonists Mary Braun and Tina Zmaeff are released.

"I was so upset. . . . I sacrificed my home to be with the sisters," Pauline Berikoff, 50, said Wednesday. She was paroled last January after serving six months for burning a building in August, 1986 with Braun and Zmaeff.

But Berikoff said she would not have tried to talk Braun, 67, and Zmaeff, 63, into giving up a fast they began 87 days ago.

"I would probably join them (in fasting.) The only thing I can feel is to share their suffering, to ease them a little," she said.

But Grand Forks RCMP told Berikoff they couldn't arrest her for burning her own house, she said. "The police said to me: 'We can't take you for doing your own.' I said: 'So I have to burn something else?' But they advised me not to."

Berikoff is now staying with her father in Gilpin.

Grand Forks RCMP said Wednesday they are still investigating the fire.

Other Gilpin Freedomites fear there will be more buildings burned if Zmaeff and Braun aren't released.

"We hope it doesn't escalate to some other acts," said Laurs Savinkoff. "But people are getting more and more agitated. We're beating our heads against the wall."

An appeal for the women's parole is still before the National Parole Board Review Committee in Ottawa, but Corrections Services of Canada spokesman Dianne Brown said the two have indicated they won't accept anything but an "unconditional release," which can only come in the form of a pardon from Solicitor-General James Kelleher.

The Gilpin Freedomites and some Reformed Doukhobors from Krestova, near Nelson, are still waiting for Kelleher's reply to a Telex they sent last week.

"It seems they don't want to do anything," Savinkoff said.

Brown said the women's condition doesn't appear to have changed but as they refuse to be examined by doctors, it is difficult to know how ill they are.

Dr. Doug Roberts of Victoria, who force-fed the women during a previous prison fast, said anyone fasting more than 60 days can suffer permanent nerve damage and blindness even if they resume eating.

Braun and Zmaeff each received about 24 hours of intravenous treatment a few weeks ago after their conditions deteriorated and they were sent to hospital. Corrections Canada has a policy against force-feeding prisoners capable of making their own decisions.

Brown said the women are alert and chat to prison staff about their families and their communities. They still take phone calls from relatives but calls have been less frequent in recent days, she said.

The women have lengthy criminal records for arson, an act they feel is a spiritual cleanser and part of their Doukhobor faith. They are currently serving an eight-year sentence for a 1985 fire and had been out on parole until burning a building with Berikoff in 1986.