Police: Woman arrested in Springfield house fire

Neighbor says he helped rescue her from fire

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A mentally ill woman was arrested on an arson charge in connection to a house fire in Springfield Monday, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said.

Dawn Cunningham, 44, lives at the home on Pippin Street where the fire was reported just before 6 p.m.

According to Jacksonville Fire Rescue, the fire was put out in about 10 minutes and no one was injured. 

The property owner told police that Cunningham, who is a known mental health patient, and her live-in boyfriend had lived in the home for years but were served with eviction paperwork Monday.

A witness told police that Cunningham had been screaming all day and that he saw her walk around the home, breaking the windows before going back inside with a lighter.

He said he saw flames through the open front door before Cunningham slammed it shut. The witness alerted another neighbor and the two broke through the front door and found Cunningham sitting on a chair next to the fire inside the home.

The witness told police he had to coax Cunningham out of the home, nearly to the point of physically removing her.

"I kicked in the door and she was there standing right over the fire and she wouldn't respond to me. So I just covered my face and yanked her arm to get her out safely," neighbor Chaussee Gibson told News4Jax. "She wouldn't move so I actually had to risk myself with actually going in and getting her out."

Police said Cunningham later confessed to family members in front of officers that she had set fire to clothes inside the home.

The State Fire Marshal's Office was called to investigate, and a detective found evidence that clothes had been set on fire, leading to Cunningham's arson arrest.

Police said Cunningham had at least three prior mental illness contacts with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Gibson said Tuesday that he hopes the mother of 11 gets the help she needs.

"She has had a rough life," Gibson said. "According to her landlord yesterday, I spent some time with him. He said that he hopes that the justice system gives her help because bars would not do her any justice."