(MOBILE, Ala) -
Just hours after putting out a house fire, Mobile firefighters were called back to the same house to do it again.Neighbor Jeremy Mills said the sirens woke him so he went outside to see the firefighters. He and other neighbors watched and worried about what could have happened if the fire had spread.
"If it had," said neighbor Wallace Sunde, "there'd have been a lot of houses going up in flames."
After the second fire was out, fire officials investigated and say they determined that the couple living in the home set the fires.
"A witness came to us," said Mobile Fire-Rescue spokesperson Steve Huffman, "and actually gave us information to indicate that the owners of the structure were the ones who started the fire."
So Friday, fire officials arrested Richard Ferrell and Janet Champion, charging them each with two counts of second degree arson.
Huffman said that with the down economy, people are struggling to pay their mortgages, and many are setting their own homes on fire to collect insurance money.
Fire officials continue to investigate. They say the couple could face more charges.
