There has been an arrest made in the case of the 3- Alarm building fire this morning at 14703 Main Street in the Town of Upper Marlboro.  The building fire alarm sounded at 01:30 am and firefighters arrived within 3 minutes of the initial dispatch to find fire coming from the building and the restaurant at that address.

Three alarms and approximately 100 personnel, were summoned to the scene to fight the fire.  There were no firefighter or civilian injuries reported from the fire.  The County Office of the Fire Marshal estimated the fire loss to be at approximately $250,000.

During the course of the investigation fire investigators determined the cause to be incendiary. Investigators also developed a suspect identified as Jessica Marie Poole, 26 years-of-age, of Harwood, MD. She is a prior employee of the business and had recently been fired. She was arrested this afternoon and charged with the following crimes:

2 counts of 1st Degree Arson,
2nd Degree Arson
2 counts of Reckless Endangerment

“I commend the firefighters that battled this difficult fire and to our fire investigators and law enforcement officers for determining the cause, identifying a suspect and ensuring the suspect was arrested,” said County Fire Chief Benjamin Barksdale. “I would also like to acknowledge our County Police Department for making the arrest and to the Anne Arundel County Fire and Police Departments for assisting in this investigation.”

Information courtesy of the PGFEMSD and PIO, and area news stations.