Woman intentionally starts fire in Westside apartments, 30 people displaced, police say

30 people left homeless after fire

JACKSONVILLE, Fla – A woman is going to be charged with arson. Investigators say she set her westside apartment on fire, now 27 people can’t live in their homes.

Crews from the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department and JSO responded at about 11 p.m. Sunday to a fire at Jacksonville Heights Apartments off 103rd street.

Neighbor Dametreon Sloan lived next door to the fire. “Smelling all of the smoke, and everything was happening at once, it was so fast,” Sloan said. “It definitely was scary.”

The woman was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and will be charged with arson, according to JSO. JSO said the fire caused major property damage -- but no other resident was hurt.

The American Red Cross has helped at least 27 people with shelter, food and clothing.

This isn’t the first time this has happened at Jacksonville Heights Apartments.

A massive fire broke out here last October. 24 adults and nine children had to find somewhere else to stay. That’s 33 people total.

It took 115 firefighters, including crews from Naval Air Station Jacksonville, about an hour and a half to control. JFRD said a dozen units were damaged. Most of the units were gutted and others had smoke and water damage.

News4JAX reached out to the management of the apartment complex, but right now they are not commenting.