CAMDEN — Camden Police Department Detective Alec Faulkner recently spoke to the Camden News regarding updates on recent house fires in the area.
Two of the house fires occurred within a mile of each other on Brooks Street and Skyline Drive, while another occurred on John Street.
Faulkner said that Sonya Lewis, 57, was taken into custody and is being charged for the arson on John Street, but the other two fires are still under investigation. Lewis is also being charged with fraudulent use of a credit card and theft of property. He explained that the fires that happened on Brooks and Skyline are “confidential” due to a lack of evidence, but that law enforcement is keeping a watchful eye over the area.
“I know a lot of people have been worried about the Brooks and Skyline fires,” Faulkner said.
“Just know that we are looking at and following it closely. Sometimes our hands are just tied… The problem we’re having is we don’t have enough evidence to do anything extra, and arson is extremely hard to prosecute. They are touchy because when you’ve got this (evidence jar of charred material) to work with. All we can do is send that to the crime lab and even if it tests positive for accelerants, I still have to prove who put that accelerant in there.”
Faulkner added that speaking with the fireman who worked the fire, neighbors and even drawing diagrams of the homes are all necessary to determine if a fire was actually caused by an arsonist. He shared that one of the homes that burned was especially suspicious because utilities were not connected to it.
Faulkner also wanted to emphasize that just because Lewis was arrested, it does not mean she is guilty because she still has to stand trial.
He spoke in general about how there have been domestic cases where someone may have wanted to get even with their partner by burning something - such as the partner’s clothes - and that can sometimes lead to a house fire.
“Not every fire is necessarily an arson, but we have to investigate it like it is until we know it’s not,” Faulkner shared. “When you’re talking about fire - and not saying that this is what happened with Lewis but just speaking in general - one of the things I learned going through training is that people get into an argument. They get mad at each other and one might start a fire. It’s done out of revenge, and a lot of times you can tell the different between when guys burn stuff and when women burn stuff.”
Faulkner encouraged people to contact the CPD if they see anyone trying to start a structural fire.
“If you see anything suspicious - not talking about someone burning leaves or anything like that - I’m talking about setting a structure on fire or trying to start a massive fire, call up here,” Falkner said.
“We’ll get a patrol officer out there. They go out and take reports first, but if they can get over there and catch the person in the act, that’s a lot of evidence right there.”