Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9505010069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Roanoke police said a 16-year-old was charged with arson Saturday night. He is being held at Coyner Springs Juvenile Detention Center until his hearing, according to a press release issued by Major J.L. Viar.
A complaint against a 11-year-old will be evaluated Monday by the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Viar said that because of the boy's age, the court will decide whether he'll be charged.
Police said the boys, whose names were not released because of their age, are cousins.
The 16-year-old lives a few blocks from the church. The 11-year-old, who lives in Roanoke County, occasionally spends weekends in a house near his cousin's.
Viar said the boys' families have been cooperating with the investigation.
Police had been searching for two youths since a witness reported seeing two boys near the church before and after the April 22 fire.
The release said a man watched two boys walk toward the church carrying several bottles filled with fluids. Just as the first cloud of smoke floated from the church, the man saw the boys come around the building and watch the fire spread.
According to the release, the fire started when a flammable fluid was poured over part of the church and ignited with a cigarette.
"The heat became so intense so quickly," the release said, "that an exit had to be made through a side window." That window, previously reported as broken, was discovered open as firefighters battled the blaze.
Viar would not say whether details of the fire's origin were based on accounts of witnesses or physical evidence.
The fire devoured everything except the exterior walls of the National Historic Landmark church, which was nearly a century old. Drifting cinders ignited three other houses, causing severe damage to a house at 42 Gilmer Ave.
The church hadn't been occupied by the congregation for more than 10 years, but work had begun to turn the building into an arts center.
Engineers are still examining the possibility of rebuilding the church.
by CNB