By Ashley B. Craig
The Charleston Daily Mail
SPENCER, W.Va. — A lover’s spat was at the center of a fire that forced several people out of their homes and caused several Roane County businesses to close temporarily.
State Fire Marshal investigators arrested Jacob Hite, 21, of Spencer, Monday. Hite faces multiple charges including first degree arson and arson creating the risk of bodily injury.
The fire started Saturday night in a bedroom in Hite’s apartment at 208 Court St. in Spencer.
Spencer Mayor Terry Williams said the building was a two-story brick structure with brick buildings on either side. He didn’t know the age of the buildings but said much of downtown Spencer were older, historical buildings. The building at one point had been office space but had since been converted into four apartments, he said.
Hite lived in apartment 2 with girlfriend Haley Jarvis. She told State Fire Marshal’s investigators that she and Hite were arguing in the bedroom where she was gathering her clothes, according to a criminal complaint. Jarvis told investigators she was leaving Hite.
She said Hite grabbed one of her work shirts and set it on fire with a Zippo lighter, then threw the flaming shirt into the closet onto a pile of her clothes, according to the complaint.
Jarvis said she tried to put out the fire but after her attempts failed she grabbed her 8-month-old son, who had been in another room while the couple argued, and ran out of the apartment.
The baby suffered “contact burn injuries” to his leg. He was treated and released from Roane General Hospital.
Several fire departments, including the Spencer Volunteer Fire Department, responded. Mayor Williams said firefighters kept the blaze contained to the apartment building and used more than 750,000 gallons of water to extinguish the fire.
Two firefighters were treated for injuries.
“Arresting someone is wonderful but that doesn’t solve the problems that it caused,” Williams said. “We appreciate the fire marshals coming up here to investigate this.”
The buildings on either side of the apartment building suffered water and smoke damage. Businesses in those buildings, on one side is a sporting goods store, a hair salon and a law office and on the other side is an insurance office and a renovated office space, closed temporarily while they clean up after the fire, the mayor said.
“If it wasn’t for the fire departments we’d be looking at a whole different set of problems,” Williams said. “It’s just going to take a few days to get those businesses back up on their feet.”
Williams said it was his understanding that the most, if not all of, residents of the building had found housing elsewhere.
Hite is being housed at Central Regional Jail. His bond was set at $210,000.
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(c)2014 the Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, W.Va.)
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