REDWOOD FALLS , Minn. 鈥� A warrant has been issued for a woman accused of negligently starting a 2018 fire in a Redwood Falls, Minn., apartment building, causing almost a half-million dollars in damages and injuring one person.
Darlene Williams, 57, of Henning, Tenn., is facing seven felony counts of negligent fire, four gross misdemeanor counts of negligent fire and one misdemeanor count of negligent fire for the December 2018 fire.
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Williams failed to appear for a Monday, May 24, hearing before District Judge Patrick Rohland, who issued a warrant for her arrest.
According to the criminal complaint, one victim of the fire reported suffering permanent loss of function of his left foot after he fell from a second-story window to escape the fire, fracturing his ankle.
In total, 11 victims reported approximately $100,717 damages and another person had to be rescued by a ladder from the Redwood Falls Fire Department.
The apartment complex sustained approximately $343,000 in damage.
According to the criminal complaint, Williams, who was renting an apartment in the building at the time, is accused of negligently starting the fire with a cigarette that ignited one of the couch cushions in her apartment.
When officers arrived at the building in the early morning hours of Dec. 18, 2018, they observed flames in a second-story apartment, later identified as Williams'. They were overtaken by smoke when they tried to access the second story of the apartment building and then attempted to evacuate everyone from the first floor.
Officers also noticed a man yelling from the apartment adjacent to Williams' apartment who said the smoke in the hallway was too bad for him to exit. After he punched out a window screen and climbed out his window, he lost his grip and fell, suffering a complex fracture to his left ankle.
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Williams told law enforcement at the scene that she fell asleep and never heard a smoke detector or observed any fire or smoke. She denied smoking cigarettes inside her apartment.
After her apartment was inspected by fire investigators, it was determined that had Williams been asleep on the couch when she indicated, she would have died in the fire.
Investigators found no indications the fire was intentionally set.
A witness told law enforcement that prior to calling 911 that night, she heard a beeping noise and smelled a burning door. The witness then said Williams came out of her apartment and said "Something's wrong."
The witness said she opened Williams' door and saw smoke filling the apartment and that Williams had been warned about smoking in the apartment before.
