3 different views 85th Ave 3- Alarm PGFD pic.twitter.com/gcPSb4NKnu
— Mark Brady (@PIOMarkBrady) September 17, 2018
WASHINGTON — A woman apparently upset with her ex-boyfriend now faces arson charges in connection with a $2.2 million fire that damaged a New Carrollton, Maryland, apartment complex, leaving nearly 130 people without a place to live last month.
Natasha Ciara Joyner, 32, of New Carrollton is charged with first-degree arson, second-degree arson, first-degree malicious burning, malicious destruction of property worth more than $1,000 and reckless endangerment, according to a news release from the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department.
While the fire department is not releasing details of how the Sept. 17 fire was set, spokesman Mark Brady tells WTOP it was Joyner’s own apartment that went up in flames and that she “targeted” the ex-boyfriend.
The fire in the three-story, garden apartments at 5334 85th Avenue had flames leaping from the roof and thick smoke billowing into the sky. It took firefighters two hours to put out the three-alarm blaze.
The afternoon of the fire, Brady said the fire “burned intensely” and there were issues with the fire hydrants on site. Water pressure depleted quickly.
“Initially, we had enough water going in, but as more firefighters hooked up their lines and started flowing water, we started to lose water pressure and the fire got ahead of us,” Brady said on the day of the fire.
