Three juveniles arrested for Sunday fire

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post indicated the charges were misdemeanors. Stafford Fire & Rescue has since corrected that to note that the charges are felonies.

Three juveniles from Stafford were arrested in connection to Sunday’s fire that destroyed one house under construction and damaged three others.

Read more about that fire here.

Citizens gave information to the fire marshal, sheriff’s deputies and first responders about what they’d seen around the three homes in the Seasons Landing subdivision, said Stafford Fire & Rescue assistant chief Mark Doyle.

Doyle couldn’t release the names of the three juveniles, or say how the fire was set. That was still part of the investigation, Doyle said.

“It is a difficult crime to solve sometimes,” Doyle said.

Total damage was estimated at $200,000, but because crews were able to prevent the other three houses from burning, $1.2 million worth of property was saved.

The fire was reported around 7:30 p.m. Sunday, and the house was fully engulfed by flames when the first firefighters arrived. Three others were damaged because of the fire’s heat. People were living in one of those, but no one was home at the time.

The three were charged with burning or destroying a building, a class 3 felony, said Stafford Fire & Rescue Assistant Chief Mark Doyle.

Permalink: http://news.fredericksburg.com/staffordnews/2013/03/13/three-juveniles-arrested-for-sunday-fire/