Woman upset with ex-boyfriend charged with arson in huge New Carrollton apt. fire

(Courtesy Prince George's Fire and EMS)
Fire shoots from the roof of an apartment in New Carrollton on Sept. 18, 2018. (Courtesy Prince George’s Fire and EMS)
(Courtesy Prince George's Fire and EMS)
A firefighter is seen on the scene of the Prince George’s County fire. (Courtesy Prince George’s Fire and EMS)
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(Courtesy Prince George's Fire and EMS)
(Courtesy Prince George's Fire and EMS)

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.

apartment fire
Firefighters are seen on the scene of an apartment fire in New Carrollton on Sept. 18, 2018. (Courtesy Prince George’s County Fire and EMS)

Colleen Kelleher

Colleen Kelleher is an award-winning journalist who has been with WTOP since 1996. Kelleher joined WTOP as the afternoon radio writer and night and weekend editor and made the move to WTOP.com in 2001. Now she works early mornings as the site's Senior Digital Editor.

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