Arrests made in apartment fire ring

By Dave Jordan, NEWS 9

Police have arrested several accused fire starters in connection to a string of blazes at a metro apartment complex.

Authorities said there are seven people in custody in connection with those fires.

Woodpark Apartments, located in the 3100 block of N Portland Avenue, has seen four fires over the past six months.

Neighbors woke up to a small fire above the office of the Woodpark Apartment Complex Wednesday morning. Tommy Threatt lives directly across from the charred apartment and was first to hear the wails of the sirens.

"I had hopped up, ran in the room and woke my mama up and told her there was a fire," Threatt said.

As Threatt alerted his family, firemen alerted other neighbors.

"They had started kicking doors in because nobody wouldn't wake up to get everybody out," Threatt said.

Firemen were able to keep the blaze from spreading to other units. Investigators believed it was arson and have made three arrests.

Justin Alexander knows the suspects.

"We met them about a month ago and they seemed like cool people, so I started hanging out with them, never knew they'd do something like this," Alexander said.

Investigators said the three suspects confessed to setting the fire. A motive remains unclear.

One neighbor said he believed the fire was set by former tenants upset because they were evicted.

Fire investigators declined to release the names of any of the suspects because the investigation is ongoing.