JUNIOR, W.Va. — A woman has been charged after allegedly setting an empty building in Lewis County on fire “because people were talking down to her.”
On July 27, first responders arrived at the scene of a structure fire on Jackson Street in Junior which had not been occupied for “a few years,” according to a criminal complaint filed by the West Virginia State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Upon an investigation performed by fire marshals, the fire “was determined to have originated in the basement area” and that “the fire was incendiary in nature or intentionally set,” fire marshals said.
While speaking with witnesses, fire marshals learned that Sarah Lambert, 28, of Lewis County, had “been in the area just prior to the fire being discovered,” and that she had been “made to leave the property” the week prior to the fire, according to the complaint.
In an interview with Lambert, fire marshals learned that “she was at the house when the fire occurred” and she “stated that she set the fire to the mattress in the basement” of the residence, fire marshals said.
When fire marshals asked Lambert why she set the fire, she stated that it was “because people were talking down to her” and saying she “steals and all kinds of s***,” before admitting to setting the mattress on fire because “it would most likely catch them [the stairs] on fire,” according to the complaint.
Lambert has been charged with arson. She is being held in Tygart Valley Regional Jail on $40,000 bond.