Charges show possible motive in suspicious fire
UPDATE: Charges filed Wednesday against Tammy Yvette Nevels, 45, claim she admitted using a lighter to set a bed on fire in northeast Columbia.
A 76 year-old man and 16 year-old were inside the home Monday when the flames broke out, but no one was hurt.
In new court documents, police say Nevels was fighting about paying bills with another man who also lived at the house on Mohawk Avenue before she started the fire.
Bond was set Wednesday at $15,000 for Nevels, who is charged with first-degree arson, misdemeanor fourth-degree assault, and having illegal drugs at a correctional center.
UPDATE 4:59 P.M.: Tammy Yvette Nevels, 45, of Columbia, has been arrested in relation to the fire.
According to the official release, through the investigation, detectives determined the fire was started by another occupant of the residence identified as Nevels, who had left the residence after the fire was started.
UPDATE 7/10: Fire investigators with the Columbia Fire Department’s Fire Marshal’s Office said the cause of the fire in the 300 block of Mohawk Avenue was suspicious.
Fire officials said the Columbia Police Department is now working with the Fire Marshal’s Office for the investigation.
The fire caused about $50,000 worth of damage, according to fire officials.
UPDATE: One bedroom caught fire in the home. Firefighters put it out when they arrived on scene. The department confirmed there were no injuries.
The fire marshal is now on scene trying to determine what caused the fire.
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ORIGINAL: The Columbia Fire Department dispatched several units to a bedroom fire at a home in the 300 block of Mohawk Avenue.
Our crews on the scene saw firefighters in full gear coming in and out of the home. They did not see flames, but smell smoke in the area.
The road is currently blocked.
ABC 17 News is waiting to talk to firefighters at the scene and will update this article with any new information.
