Dover man arrested for setting his own apartment house ablaze

DOVER PLAINS — Just weeks after a structure fire broke out at 12 Brady Lane in Dover Plains — resulting in severe property damage and several families being displaced from their homes — the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) announced on Tuesday, Feb. 1, that Dover resident Charles Keenan was arrested for arson and charged with starting the blaze.

Several regional fire companies responded to the Thursday evening fire on Jan. 13. J.H. Ketchum Hose Company from Dover Plains took the lead; a handful of local fire companies from both New York and Connecticut also responded to help in putting out the fire.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, the Westchester County Department of Public Safety and the New York State Police (NYSP) also assisted at the scene of the fire.

In the weeks following the fire, the DCSO Detective Bureau, its Fire & Arson Investigation Unit and its Fire Investigation Division collaborated in investigating the fire’s origins along with assistance from the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office. Arson was suspected from the very start, though officials were careful to say they needed more information to confirm that was indeed the cause.

Reaching out to support the affected families, the Dover Plains community set up a number of GoFundMe pages to help raise money for some of the families that were displaced from their homes as a result of the fire.

Dover Plains resident Lucy Duncan was among them; she set up, “Let’s help my sister rebuild her life,” seeking to raise money to help her sister and her children relocate into a home together “as they are currently staying in separate places.”

Another page called “Help our family recover from a fire,” was set up by Amanda Murphy after she and her family of eight were forced to leave their home “after [the] fire was started by [a]neighbor and left us all homeless,” according to the GoFundMe description.

Curiously, Keenan, who was charged for setting the fire, also set up a Go Fund Me page. Called, “Our apt is gone do to fire really use a miracle,” he set it up with his girlfriend, Vivian Hewlett. According to the page, Keenan and Hewlett had been living at 12 Brady Lane together for a year and, like many of their neighbors, are now homeless because of the fire.

“I’m Extremely great full [sic.] that nobody got hurt physically but there’s so many other aptments [sic.] that probably could have lost more than me!” Hewlett wrote. “But honestly I’m great full [sic.] that everyone made it out alive.… U don’t realize what u had till it’s all gone… I’ll tell ya whom ever was involved in this disaster In which we all lost so much. I just don’t understand how people can have so much hurt to do such a thing to anyone.”

According to a statement from the DCSO on Monday, Feb. 1, Keenan was charged with one count of Arson in the Second Degree, a class B felony.

He was arraigned in Town of Dover Justice Court and remanded to the Dutchess County Jail without bail until his next court appearance.

“The alleged actions of this defendant not only endangered the lives of the residents in the apartment building but also the lives of the firefighters who responded and extinguished this fire,” stated Sheriff Kirk Imperati. “We will not tolerate lives or property to be threatened by the crime of arson and we will continue to work diligently with the fire departments, the Dutchess County Fire Investigation Division and the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office to investigate and prosecute these acts to the fullest extent of the law.”

Imperati praised the strong teamwork among the DCSO, Dutchess County Fire Investigation Division, the NYSP and the Dover fire department.

Though he preferred not to speak about any criminal issues, Dover town Supervisor Richard Yeno commended the efforts of the Sheriff’s Office in the investigation.

“They have always done a great job and they are some of the most dedicated people I know,” he said.

The investigation into the structure fire is ongoing at this time. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Detective Pete Gerardi at 845-486-3835 or the DCSO confidential tip line at 845-605-2583 or dcsotips@gmail.com.