Man Arrested For Arson In Mauvilla House Fire

Alabama Mobile A family of six is homeless.

by Steve Alexander

Published: Mon, September 21, 2009 - 8:24 pm CST Last Updated: Mon, September 21, 2009 - 8:47 pm CST

MAUVILLA, Alabama - An arson fire in Mobile County Monday afternoon left a couple and their four children homeless.
Mobile County Sheriff's Deputies arrested Markeith Baker on first degree arson charges.
They said he set the fire that destroyed a home in the Mauvilla area off Spice Pond Road.
Johnny Barker lives across the street from the home that caught fire.
He said, "Fire was everywhere. The roof was on fire."
Another neighbor said, "I tried to get the water hose and come down and take it out, but it was too powerful for me."
The scene was too powerful for a woman who lives in the house.
Her sister identified her as Minnie Baker.
She was was taken to a nearby ambulance.
When asked how she was doing, Martha Sims, Baker's sister, said, "Distraught, Distraught, upset, but everybody's safe.
At first, firefighters weren't so sure.
Chief Terry Sexton with the Semmes Volunteer Fire Department said, "We have not located a 20 year old male as of yet. We have one witness that was a child, saying he may have run off in the woods, but other family members have said they don't know where he's at."
But an initial search found no one inside.
Heat caused problems for firefighters, and a report fire officials received from the sheriff's office before arriving on the scene also caught their attention.
Sexton said, "En route, they told us that it was domestic violence-involved, which we don't know for sure, but the sheriffs office report showed it was domestic violence, so we had to stop and wait for the sheriffs office to clear it up before we could actually come in."
The sheriff's office later said domestic violence wasn't involved.
Firefighters from Semmes, Oak Grove and Prichard were on the scene.
They contacted the American Red Cross to help the family.

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