An apartment house at 17 Deering St. in Norway was destroyed by fire Saturday afternoon. Officials charged Katrina O’Connor, 29, with setting it by pouring gasoline on her mattress and lighting it. Maine Department of Public Safety photo
PARIS — Katrina O’Connor told the first officer who arrived at the apartment house fire Saturday at 17 Deering St. that she poured gasoline on her mattress and lit it, according to a court affidavit.
The five-alarm blaze destroyed the two-story building owned by Northeast Rental Housing. A woman was injured and at least six people were displaced.
O’Connor, 29, who resided in a first-floor apartment, was charged with arson Saturday. She is being held without bail at the Oxford County Jail while awaiting an initial court appearance expected Wednesday.
According to court documents, Police Officer Caroline Casey, the first officer on the scene, encountered O’Connor outside the apartment who told Casey she had poured gasoline on her bed and lit it. O’Connor added that she did not think that the fire would spread as quickly as it did.
Casey had also spoken to a tenant in the building who told her that O’Connor had asked her if her children were out of the building because she was going to light her mattress on fire.
O’Connor left the scene to go to Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway with her mother, Christina Parsons. Casey followed them to the hospital and detained her for questioning, according to court documents.
Chris Stanford, the chief investigator for the Office of State Fire Marshal, asked Casey to bring O’Connor to the Paris Police Station so he could interview her.
When Casey patted her down, Casey discovered a black cigarette lighter.
Stanford arrived at the station after visiting the fire scene. Casey told him that O’Connor smelled like gasoline. O’Connor refused to answer Stanford’s questions but had written a two-page statement saying, “she took a smoke break on her mattress in her bedroom and lit a cigarette not realizing the mattress was soaked with gasoline,” according to the affidavit written by Stanford.
He also noted the smell of gasoline in her clothing.
Stanford told O’Connor she was under arrest and had Casey take her to the Oxford County Jail.
A trained K-9 unit from the Fire Marshal’s Office detected gasoline on O’Connor’s clothing and one sneaker, as well as the mattress. All items were forwarded to the Maine State Police Crime Lab for further analysis.
Jail officials told Stanford that O’Connor had been released from the jail Friday after her arrest Thursday on unrelated charges of violating condition of release and criminal trespass. She was also arrested Sunday, Aug. 21, on a charge of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer and criminal trespass.
Her criminal record dates back to 2008 when she was a juvenile. She has multiple arrests for unlawful possession of scheduled drugs and violating condition of release, according to court documents.
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