Erie woman accused of burning down two homes on East 10

Lina Portman2 weeks ago

6 3 minutes read

A domestic dispute between some people squatting in a vacant east Erie residence on June 13 led to a fire that destroyed the house and a neighboring home and damaged two other neighboring homes, Erie police say in a criminal complaint filed against woman accused of starting fire.

The accused suspect, Colodgia A. Burns, 29, of Erie, was jailed on $1 million bail following her arraignment Wednesday on multiple counts of arson and misdemeanor caused and risked disaster in the fire, which investigators believe started inside 422 E. 10th Street. and spread to three occupied houses immediately east and west of the house.

No one was injured in the fire, but authorities said dozens of people were displaced.

More: No one was injured in a massive fire that ravaged a vacant home and damaged three others in east Erie.

Burns also faces one count of criminal trespass. According to investigators, 422 E. 10th was vacant and under construction, with no active utilities and the majority of its windows boarded up, police wrote in Burns' criminal complaint. The owner of the property told police that no one had permission to enter the residence, according to investigators.

Erie police arrested Burns on the city's west side Wednesday morning, according to city police arrest records.

Video, witnesses help police identify suspect

Investigators wrote in the criminal complaint filed against Burns that following the fire, police canvassed the area looking for video and potential witnesses. Through canvassing, police learned that two men and a woman were at 422 E. 10th St. at the time of the fire, the charging detective wrote in the probable cause affidavit filed with the complaint .

Investigators wrote that they identified the woman as Burns and said they learned that she may have started the fire on the second floor of the home. According to information in the affidavit, there was a domestic dispute between Burns and her boyfriend, and Burns allegedly used a lighter to set a couch on fire. The act was allegedly witnessed by the boyfriend and corroborated by another person present in the house at the time, the detective wrote in the affidavit.

Burns told police she was inside 422 E. 10th St. at the time of the fire and had a lighter, and she confirmed the fire occurred. domestic dispute. But she denied intentionally setting the fire, according to information in the affidavit.

The owner of the house told police that about three weeks before the fire, he observed signs of squatters inside the residence. Erie Fire Chief Inspector Don Sauer said that following the fire, city firefighters were called to 422 E. 10th St. over the winter after a small fire broke out on site. Squatters were believed to have been present in the house at the time, Sauer told the Erie Times-News.

Hours spent fighting massive fire

The fire was initially reported at 11:54 p.m. on June 13. Fire officials said the first crews from the Erie Fire Bureau arrived on scene and found one of the homes fully involved in the fire and spreading to neighboring homes. The house at 422 E. 10th St. began to collapse as crews worked to put out the fires, investigators said.

All on-duty Erie Fire Bureau companies and one off-duty platoon were dispatched to fight the fire. The Millcreek Township Fire Department and the Belle Valley Fire Department in Millcreek also assisted at the scene.

Firefighters remained on scene until shortly before 5 a.m. on June 14.

The remains of 422 E. 10th St. were demolished for safety following the fire, as was a heavily damaged house at 426 E. 10th St. immediately to the east, according to Any Zimmerman, manager of city code enforcement. A home at 434 E. 10th St., immediately east of the two graded homes, and a home at 420 E. 10th St., immediately west of 422 E. 10th St., both suffered significant fire damage, authorities reported.

An American Red Cross Greater Pennsylvania spokeswoman told the Erie Times-News in an email Thursday morning that the Red Cross assisted four families, consisting of nine adults and 16 children, after the 'fire.

Contact Tim Hahn at [email protected]. Follow him on @ETNhahn.

Video, witnesses help police identify suspect

Hours spent fighting massive fire

Lina Portman

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