Cobleskill Village Police charged an 11-year-old girl with arson after a fire heavily damaged a Main Street apartment house Sunday afternoon.
Police said the girl, whose name was withheld because of her age, set a couch on fire with a lighter in one of the apartments.
The house is at the corner of Main and North streets, and blaze started shortly after 2pm, according to Fire Chief Rich Cooper.
Occupants of the burning back apartment tried to put the fire out but couldn’t and fled the apartment, he said.
“I got there a couple of minutes after the alarm, and it was fully involved and into the main structure,” Chief Cooper said.
He called in departments from Richmondville and Central Bridge, along with the county Cascade unit for air as firefighters battled the stubborn, smoky blaze.
Chief Cooper said the owner, John Mazzone, had recently renovated the home, and volunteers had trouble cutting through the new roof to get at the fire.
Firefighters had the blaze under control after about 90 minutes. The fire destroyed the rear portion of the large home, and Chief Cooper was unsure whether the building could be saved.
Police charged the girl with fourth-degree arson, a felony. Cobleskill Sergeant Rich Bialkowski said she was playing with a lighter near the couch.
“At this point, we believe it was intentional––not to have the whole house burn but to set the couch on fire,” he said.
“Rich [Cooper] called in fire investigators, and they agreed it started in or around the couch, county Fire Coordinator Matt Brisley said. “Everybody agrees with the story.”
Officers issued an appearance ticket for the girl to appear at the county Probation Department Tuesday morning. They released her in the custody of her mother under supervision of the county Social Services Department.
“They’ll review her case and what services she needs, supervision, counseling and other support,” Sergeant Bialkowski said of the Probation Department.
Nobody was injured in the blaze. The building had four apartments, with eight residents. All escaped safely.
Chief Cooper praised firefighters for containing the fire in a neighborhood where the houses are side-by-side.
“Everybody did a good job,” he said. “It could have spread further in the house or to other buildings, that’s for sure.”
Mr. Brisley agreed.
“It could have been a lot worse,” he said. “If it had been a week ago with all that wind or in the middle of the work week with low manpower, it could have been trouble.”