WRIGHTSTOWN (NBC 26) — More than two months ago, there was a fire at a home in Wrightstown. Now, neighbors and police are turning their eyes back to the scene as the fire was confirmed to be arson.
- A Wrightstown fire in May has now been confirmed to be caused by arson.
- A video in the story above shows a suspect fleeing the scene.
- One neighbor who saw the fire says that the act of arson is very upsetting and shocking.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story, with additional details for the web.)
Amanda Mollen watched the fire rage with her husband on May 18th.
"I just see him take off running, which is heart stopping in itself,” Mollen said. "Then reality sets in like, 'Wow, this is big. They could really get hurt'."
Thankfully the man and his young son in the home escaped safely. I talked to the father today who said they are currently living with his parents unable to move back home.
"It's shocking, and then it goes to very upsetting,” Mollen said.
Wrightstown Police Chief Greg Deike says from the very beginning, they knew the fire was suspicious. On Wednesday morning, police confirmed the blaze to be an act of arson.
"Through the course of the investigation, we were waiting for evidence to be processed through the crime lab before we wanted to release any more information,” Chief Deike said.
One piece of evidence was a video taken right after the fire began. In the video, a person can be seen running away from the scene.
Now, Chief Deike is asking for any information the public may be able to offer.
"If you're starting to see people at 1, 2, 3 o'clock in the morning,” Chief Deike says. “They should be calling law enforcement so that we can investigate."
Although Chief Deike says this seems to be an isolated incident, Amanda says she wants to see justice.
"For something like that to happen in this community, let alone a couple houses down, is very nerve wracking,” she said. “We're a tight community and when it happens it's upsetting but we also pull through."
I talked with multiple neighbors at the scene. In fact, the people that live behind the home that caught fire told me that it grew so big and so fast that they too had to evacuate.
Anyone with information on the fire or who started it, should call Wrightstown Police or Brown County Sheriff’s Office.
