Mobile Fire-Rescue Investigates Weekend House Fire, Two Vehicle Fires as Arson
Mobile investigators probed a Saturday house fire and two vehicle fires at a Schillinger Road dealership, both believed to have been intentionally set.
Mobile Fire-Rescue and police detectives spent part of last weekend investigating two separate fires that authorities believe were deliberately set within a 24-hour span, though they say the incidents do not appear to be connected.
The first fire broke out early Saturday morning at a home in the 6400 block of Rosalyn Drive South. According to a Mobile Police Department spokeswoman, three residents were awakened around 4:30 a.m. by a smoke detector before flames spread across the front of the house. When fire crews and officers arrived, they found a gasoline can on the front porch, which investigators believe had been used to accelerate the blaze.
No injuries were reported among the three occupants, and officials have not announced any arrests in connection with the fire. The case remains under investigation by Mobile Fire-Rescue and city police, who are working to determine who set the fire and why.
Less than 24 hours later, a second fire call sent officers to A-1 Auto Sales on Schillinger Road early Sunday morning, this time for a report of vehicles burning on the dealership lot. Police said two vehicles at the business were intentionally set ablaze around 3:56 a.m. As with the house fire, no suspects had been identified as of the following Monday, and the case remained open.
Investigators have said publicly that they see no evidence linking the house fire to the vehicle fires at the dealership, despite the short time span between the two incidents. Each is being treated as a separate arson investigation.
Fire officials have not released an estimate of the damage caused at either scene.
Anyone with information about either fire has been encouraged to contact Mobile police or Mobile Fire-Rescue. As of the most recent public update, both cases remained open with no suspects named, and investigators continued to review evidence gathered at each scene in hopes of identifying who was responsible.
How Alabama law treats arson
Under Alabama law, a person commits arson in the first degree by intentionally damaging a building with fire or an explosion while another person is inside, when the person setting the fire knows someone is present or the circumstances make that a reasonable possibility. First-degree arson is a Class A felony, the most serious class of felony in the state’s criminal code. Fires set when no one is present are covered by lesser degrees of arson.
