KINGSPORT — A Kingsport woman was charged with aggravated arson Tuesday after firefighters responded to two blazes that ignited less than nine hours apart at a city apartment complex.
The incidents occurred at 1401 Stratford Road. Kingsport Fire Department engineer Eric Wilson said the first response to the structure, which houses four units, came in about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. Firefighters found a fire between the walls of units 3 and 4, both of which are unoccupied.
The KFD spent two hours at the scene before departing. But at approximately 2 p.m., firefighters were dispatched back to the complex, this time for a mattress and loose article on fire in unit 1.
In the second occurrence, Kingsport police responded to conduct interviews with the occupants. Julia Sherman, 18, who lives in unit 1, told police she arrived at her apartment and discovered a fire in the upstairs bedroom. Sherman said she left the apartment and called 911.
Police said Sherman willingly came to the Kingsport Police Department to give a statement. During the interview, Sherman allegedly admitted to setting the fire in a closet in the upstairs bedroom, then calling 911.
Sherman was booked into the Kingsport jail on a charge of aggravated arson.