May 19—TRAVERSE CITY — A Traverse City man was inside his tent at a homeless encampment area when someone poured gasoline on both his tent and campfire, Traverse City Police reported.
The man, 38, escaped and walked away unharmed, according to Traverse City Police Department Capt. Matt Richmond, and a woman has been arrested as a suspect in the blaze.
Grand Traverse County central dispatch reported receiving multiple calls Thursday at 11:12 p.m. about a potential wildfire in the 600 block of South Division Street in an area commonly known as “the Pines.”
By the time the Traverse City Fire Department arrived to extinguish the fire, the flames had already destroyed a campsite and nearby vegetation, they said.
An investigation determined the fire had been intentionally set and a 40-year-old Traverse City woman was suspected. Richmond said she fled the area before officers arrived. When she was found, they arrested her. Police found a stun gun in her backpack during the search, he said.
She is currently in custody at the Grand Traverse County Jail, awaiting arraignment on charges of arson and possession of a portable device or weapon directing electrical current, impulse, wave or beam.