Apple Valley Family to Rebuild After Suspected Arson; Suspect Arrested

Jodi Hamill stood outside her Apple Valley house Friday afternoon, as neighbors stopped by to offer their support after a man allegedly set fire to the house early Friday morning.

"It's been busy all day here," she said.

Hamill said her mother and father were staying at the house, in the Cedar Isles neighborhood, with her daughter, who attends , and her daughter's three friends while Hamill and her husband were away taking their son to college in Baltimore.

Her mother awoke when she heard a noise and found a small fire started, Hamill said; she said her mother thought they would be able to put it out on their own, but the fire spread, so they evacuated out the back. Nobody was injured.

Hamill said she and her husband were at a hotel in Chicago on their way back when they got a call from their family early Friday morning.

"They were pretty hysterical last night," Hamill said of the girls.

A 21-year-old Apple Valley man has been arrested for allegedly setting fire to the home, according to police and fire officials.

Chief Scott Johnson said in the release that officials believe the man, who did not live at the house, targeted the specific residence. They have not yet released information about what might have been used to start the fire.

Police and fire personnel were called to the house, at 14335 Fridley Way, at 1:18 a.m. Friday, according to a news release from emergency officials. The front of the house was on fire, and the fire had spread to the attic.

The fire department extinguished the fire in just under an hour, Chief Nealon Thompson said. And after the fire and police departments had investigated, they arrested the Apple Valley man, the release says.

He was booked into the Dakota County Jail, the release said, where he remained early Friday evening.

Hamill said she does not know the man police arrested.

The house sustained "significant damage," Thompson said, mostly from smoke and water; most of the fire damage was to the roof, attic and entry, and some of the second floor, he said.

Hamill said she was able to save a few pictures, but the house is now unlivable. Insurance company representatives will assess the damage Sunday, she said, and the family will stay at a hotel while the house is rebuilt.

Hamill said it's hard to know what to do at this point, but what matters is that her family is safe.

"Everything else is replaceable," she said.

Police and fire officials will continue investigating, Thompson said. If formal charges are filed against the man, that would happen through the Dakota County Attorney's office.

Apple Valley Patch will provide more information as it becomes available.