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Man Charged With Setting Fire At House

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TBO.com

Published: September 9, 2008

TAMPA - Reginald Lee Mitchell set an Aug. 29 fire that caused $35,000 in damage to an occupied Tampa home, Tampa Fire Rescue says.

Investigators arrested Mitchell on Sunday afternoon. He was charged with first-degree arson.

Fire crews responded about 9:40 p.m. Aug. 29 to the blaze at 7403 N. Huntley Ave. The fire at the two-story house was under control in about 10 minutes. No one was injured.

A man and a woman were upstairs when the fire started, according to an investigator with the Tampa Fire Marshal's Office. The man told investigators he came downstairs and saw a couch ablaze.

A Tampa Fire Rescue statement doesn't list the names of the home's occupants. Capt. Bill Wade said those details, along with why Mitchell might have started the fire, weren't available because the case is ongoing. The property owner is Althia Smith, according to the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's Web site.

Efforts to reach Smith were unsuccessful.

On Aug. 29, about 25 responders came to the house from fire stations in Sulphur Springs, Seminole Heights, North Tampa and East Tampa. After the fire was put out, the American Red Cross provided the two displaced adults temporary shelter.

Mitchell, 33, of Tampa, remained in Orient Road Jail on Monday with bail set at $50,000.

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