Woman Charged With Arson After Apartment Set On Fire

After fighting with her boyfriend, a woman set fire to their South Hill apartment Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

Porntip Maneval, 21, shut herself in a bedroom and set fire to a stack of papers with a cigarette and a can of hairspray, according to police reports.

Maneval was booked into the Spokane County Jail on suspicion of first-degree arson.

Her boyfriend and a 10-1/2-month-old baby were in the apartment, at 1412 W. 11th Ave.

Firefighters were called to the Spruce Apartments at 2:55 p.m. When they arrived, the apartment’s front door was wide-open, nobody was inside and flames were licking out the back window.

The fire was knocked out in five minutes, but firefighter Karla Voss was slightly injured, suffering heat burns on one side of her face.

Neighbors waited outside, some holding prized possessions.

Downstairs neighbor June Marshall was putting on makeup when she heard about the fire. She grabbed some clothes, her cherrywood jewelry case and hustled her family outside.

“We were afraid the floor was going to fall in,” Marshall said.

The fire was contained to the one apartment. No injuries were reported.

, DataTimes