A fire broke out in a second-story apartment unit of a four-unit building in Isanti early on June 24, with investigators later determining it was intentionally set, according to the complaint.
Amy Elizabeth Heckler, who was 43 at the time of the alleged offense, is charged with first-degree arson in a complaint filed October 30 in Isanti County District Court.
According to the complaint, the Isanti Fire District was dispatched at 7:39 a.m. on June 24 to a structure fire at a property in Isanti County. Firefighters contained the blaze to a second-story apartment unit and extinguished it. The property owner told investigators that three of the four units were occupied at the time, with the fourth being an antique store that was closed.
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The property owner identified Amy Elizabeth Heckler as the occupant of the apartment where the fire started. He told investigators that she had recently been changing the locks on her apartment and the common entry door and he suspected she may have set the fire on purpose. The property owner also mentioned concerns about drug use.
A tenant in the building told investigators he heard Heckler yelling about a fire and saw smoke coming from the building. The tenant also reported that the day before the fire, Heckler had set her cat on fire and was acting strangely.
Investigators spoke with Heckler, who admitted she was the only person in the apartment when the fire started. She said there were no electrical issues and that the oven was on to cook breakfast. Heckler admitted to smoking in the apartment and discarding cigarette butts in a coffee cup and said she had smoked methamphetamine in the apartment the day before the fire, using a glass piece. She also admitted to using a torch lighter and a regular lighter inside the apartment.
Heckler told investigators she knew the fire was in the living room along the north wall and mentioned a Kleenex box being on fire. She suggested that someone else might have been involved but ultimately admitted that nothing else could have caused the fire except an intentional act. Heckler denied wanting to light the fire to get people to go away.
Deputy State Fire Marshals concluded that there were two separate and independent areas where the fire started: one at clothing in laundry baskets near the living room wall and another at the bed in the bedroom. They determined the fire was caused by intentional ignition of clothing and mattress materials using an open flame.
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