Oak Cliff

Woman Faces Arson Charge After Fire That Injured Father, Grandmother: Affidavit

NBC 5 News

A woman was charged with arson after authorities say she used charcoal and lighter fluid to ignite a fire in a home early Saturday morning while her father and grandmother were asleep, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

The woman's father and grandmother were transported to Parkland Hospital, where they were intubated, the document says. Their conditions were not known Tuesday.

Moniqua Juanita Queme, 30, admitted to setting the fire just after 5:30 a.m. Saturday and leaving the house in the 800 block of E. 9th Street in Oak Cliff without telling her family members, the affidavit says.

Firefighters responded to the blaze shortly thereafter and later learned an off-duty firefighter ran into the house and rescued the two victims, according to Dallas Fire-Rescue.

Crews ultimately extinguished the blaze, but not before it left more than $250,000 in damage, according to the affidavit.

The document says Queme started the fire in a first-floor living room using charcoal that had been used for cooking and lighter fluid. She told Dallas Fire-Rescue investigators she left it under the couch and walked out.

Investigators said what Queme told them matched evidence at the home, the affidavit says.

Queme was transported to Dallas County Jail.

Officials said the off-duty firefighter who noticed the blaze declined to be recognized but acknowledged he helped the situation end in a more "positive outcome" than what could have occurred.

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