LEWISTON, Maine — The State Fire Marshal’s Office has charged a Lewiston woman with arson in connection with one of two fires inside her apartment on Bartlett Street last week, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland said in a news release early Monday night.
Jackie McBurnie, 33, was arrested Monday afternoon and taken to Androscoggin County Jail, McCausland said.
Fire Investigators allege that McBurnie set fire to a kitchen wall in her apartment on New Year’s Day, McCausland said. That fire was extinguished with minor damage. About 10 hours later, the second fire destroyed the building, he said.
That second fire broke about 2 a.m. on Jan. 2 inside McBurnie’s bedroom and left 12 people homeless. The arson charge against McBurnie stems from the first fire, but she is likely to face an additional arson charge for the second fire, McCausland said.
Fire investigators worked closely with Lewiston police and the Lewiston Fire Department on the case, McCausland said.
McBurnie had been a resident of the Bartlett Street address for only a few months, according to McCausland.
She also had been a tenant at an apartment house at 101 Birch St. in Lewiston that was destroyed by fire in September, he said.
That fire destroyed a four-story building and left 24 people homeless. Fire investigators say that fire started on an outside deck, outside McBurnie’s apartment.