A Toccoa woman is charged with first-degree arson and criminal trespass after a fire that heavily damaged her neighbor’s house Sunday, March 4.
Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner Ralph Hudgens announced the arrest Monday, saying Amber Chambers, 36, is charged with the fire that caused more than $100,000 to the home at 277 Country Club Drive, Toccoa.
“Investigators believe that Chambers and a friend were trespassing on the property, and Chambers started a fire,” Hudgens’ spokesman Glenn Allen told AccessWDUN on Monday. “The fire originated on the back porch of the residence and then burned into the structure between floor levels.”
Chambers, who resides nearby at 90 Meadowlark Lane, and a friend had been using the back deck of the house “recreationally” while her neighbors were not there, Allen said.
“Right now, we do not have a motive of why Ms. Chambers started this fire,” Allen said. “We do know that her and a friend were on the back porch of the residence. That is a secondary home for the neighbor, and that particular person had not been to the home in several weeks.”
Chambers is being held in the Stephens County Jail.
An investigator in Hudgens’ Fire Unit determined that the 1:30 p.m. fire originated on the back porch of the residence and then burned into the structure between floor levels.
“There was significant evidence” linking Chambers to the crime, Allen said. “We don’t want to get into exactly what that is. Ms. Chambers was arrested on scene on Sunday, and she was officially charged [Monday] morning.”
Big Smith Fire Department and the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office also worked the case.
