A 42-year-old Pittsburgh woman is facing felony charges after police say she deliberately set a pile of papers on fire on her kitchen stovetop, sending flames into a wall and cabinets and forcing an evacuation of her entire apartment building on the 1400 block of Poplar Street in Oakwood. Emergency crews were called to the scene at 9:15 a.m. Tuesday for a reported fire, and officers arrived to find heavy smoke pouring from the woman's unit.
According to WPXI, police saw a woman leaving the apartment as smoke billowed from inside. Investigators later identified her as Ekatelina Kotova, who was taken into custody at the scene. She is now being held at the Allegheny County Jail.
Papers on the Stovetop Ignited the Blaze
Firefighters who entered the unit found a large pile of burning papers sitting on the stovetop, with the burner still turned on beneath them, the outlet reports. The flames spread beyond the stove, scorching a nearby wall and the kitchen cabinets before crews were able to knock the fire down. Firefighters extinguished the flames quickly, but not before the blaze caused an estimated $5,000 in damage.
Other residents of the building were evacuated as crews worked to contain the fire and confirm it had been fully extinguished. Police say Kotova is now facing charges of aggravated arson, causing or risking catastrophe, criminal mischief, and endangering persons and property.
What Pennsylvania's Arson Laws Say
Pennsylvania law treats fires that put people or property at risk with a range of felony classifications depending on intent and outcome. Under the state's criminal code, intentionally starting a fire while recklessly placing another person in danger of death or bodily injury is graded as a first-degree felony, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Intentionally starting a fire with the purpose of damaging an inhabited building or occupied structure, meanwhile, is classified as a first-degree felony.
The state's catastrophe statute adds further layers of exposure: intentionally or knowingly causing a catastrophe by fire is a first-degree felony, recklessly causing one is a second-degree felony, and merely creating a reckless risk of catastrophe by fire can still bring a third-degree felony charge, per the same legislative code. Even in cases where no damage occurs at all, intentionally or recklessly starting a fire that endangers another person or their property can still be charged as a summary offense.
Not an Isolated Case in the City
This is not the only recent case in which Pittsburgh police have accused a tenant of intentionally setting a fire inside an occupied apartment building. In a separate incident, officers arrested 22-year-old Jacob Aaron Cooper after a fire broke out at a Wood Street apartment around 4:41 a.m., a blaze that was contained and extinguished by a sprinkler system before spreading, according to WTAE. Investigators in that case found damage to a couch, a pair of tennis shoes, and a bicycle wheel, and ruled out natural or accidental causes, concluding the couch had been set alight with a lighter or match before flames spread to the shoes.
The station reported that the apartment manager said Cooper had been given a 30-day eviction notice the previous month and had an eviction hearing scheduled for the day after the fire. Cooper ultimately faced charges including aggravated arson, three counts of felony arson, causing or risking catastrophe, criminal mischief, and recklessly endangering another person — several of the same charges Kotova now faces in the Oakwood case.
