Man charged with second-degree murder, arson in Bethel apartment fire that killed 3 – Alaska Public Media News

Police have arrested a suspect in connection with a fire that killed three people in Bethel. Adam Andrew is being held at the Yukon Kuskokwim Correctional Center.

Police say Andrew started the fire that destroyed two apartments in a larger 31-unit apartment complex and injured six people. Andrew lived in a unit near the apartments that suffered the most damage, and was arrested after responding to reports of an intoxicated male lying outside.

According to Andrew’s own account told to Investigator Smith, he began drinking vodka when he returned home, and then blacked out. He told the officer that he did not set fire to the building, and that it could have been an electrical fire.

Neighbors told investigators that no sprinklers or fire alarms went off, and one said that the smoke detectors in their unit weren’t working and they were never fixed. Resident Christopher Engebreth said that he tried to get his family members to jump from an upstairs window, but they remained trapped inside.

The suspect of these deadly fires has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Police charged 35-year-old Adam Andrew with 11 felonies and six misdemeanors in connection with the fire that killed three victims in Bethel.

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