Local woman suspected of setting apartment fire

Kelly Laser, 36, of Simi Valley was arrested Dec. 26 on suspicion of setting a fire that damaged or destroyed a carport, 12 vehicles, a motorcycle and a multiunit apartment building on Nov. 11.

Ventura County firefighters responded to a structure fire in the early morning at Baywood Apartments, 5383 Cochran St., Simi Valley. Firefighters found a carport and several vehicles fully engulfed in flames.

The fire had extended to the adjacent apartment building, igniting the secondstory balconies, cracking windows and melting interior window shades in a number of units. The fire was extinguished in about 20 minutes and no injuries or deaths were reported.

"The key to the investigation was eyewitness information provided by people in the area, placing the suspect at the scene at the time of the fire," said Alan Campbell, a fire/arson investigator for the Ventura County Fire Department. "The charges in this case could not have been filed without the involvement of concerned citizens."