From fire victim to arson suspect a week later

LYNN – One week ago, Susan M. Brown was sitting on a neighbor?s steps, distraught over the fire that had damaged her Huss Court home. She even ran to alert her second-floor neighbor of the fire.Now, she is being charged with setting the June 29 blaze that resulted in the injury of one firefighter.Brown, 51, turned herself in at the Lynn Fire Prevention headquarters on Lynnfield Street Wednesday evening, and was arrested there without incident and charged with arson, according to Lynn Police Lt. Rick Donnelly.The fire started on the living room couch in Brown?s apartment. One firefighter sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to Union Hospital. All three tenants at 25 Huss Court, and a dog, cat and two birds, managed to evacuate the two-family residential structure safely.Brown, who was alone in her apartment at the time of the fire, said the animals factored into the reason she set the fire, police said. She told police that her roommate was going to jail and she was not going to care for her animals.Brown, a certified nursing assistant, was arraigned on a warrant in Lynn District Court late Thursday morning. Judge Cathleen Campbell ordered her to be held without bail, pending a dangerous hearing. Brown is scheduled to return to court July 16.According to Essex District Attorney spokeswoman Carrie Kimball-Monahan, Erin Bellavia, who is handling another case involving Brown out of the DA?s office, has filed a motion to revoke her bail on that case as well. It will also be argued on July 16.State Trooper Justin P. Peledge of the Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit said after that after interviewing witnesses and examining the scene, his conclusion is that the fire was set.?It is my opinion that the cause of this fire is incendiary and is the direct result of application of an open flame to combustible materials (couch),” Peledge wrote in his report. “It is also my opinion that Susan Brown possessed exclusive opportunity to set this fire. All accidental sources of ignition were eliminated.”Peledge further wrote that Brown told police and fire investigators that she was sitting on her loveseat when the couch caught fire. Brown initially denied setting the fire and was crying on a neighbor?s steps on Vine Street.?She said it went, ?Bing, bang, boom,?” Peledge said. “Susan stated that she called 911.”Peledge said the greatest amount of damage was along the wall, where the couch was consumed, leaving only the frame. He said the entire first-floor apartment suffered significant heat and smoke damage. The vinyl siding of the house melted, exposing underlying building materials.Brown is the daughter of the late Alfred J. Ledger, a former Peabody dispatcher and police officer.