MINOT, ND — A Minot woman is facing five felony charges after police say she intentionally set fire to a duplex while four other people were inside. Investigators say one man suffered severe burns in the blaze.
According to an affidavit from the Minot Police Department, officers and firefighters were dispatched to a kitchen fire at a duplex in southeast Minot around 11 p.m. on Oct. 9. Fire crews extinguished the flames, but the kitchen wall and ceiling were left heavily damaged.
Police say 66-year-old Tonya Legard told officers she started the fire by placing oil near a kitchen curtain and using paper towels to help it spread. The affidavit does not say exactly how the fire was ignited.
Police say the fire began in the kitchen and spread quickly
The affidavit describes a fast-moving fire that began in the duplex kitchen and caused serious damage before crews got it under control. Officials say the flames and heat left the wall and ceiling heavily damaged, showing how quickly the situation escalated inside the home.
Authorities have not publicly detailed what first alerted the occupants or how long the fire burned before emergency crews arrived. What is clear from the police account is that the incident happened late in the evening and required both officers and firefighters to respond to the scene.
The timing also meant the duplex was occupied when the fire started, raising the stakes for everyone inside. Police say there were four other people in the building besides Legard, making the situation especially dangerous.
A resident was burned after slipping in the oil, investigators say
One man who lived with Legard came downstairs during the fire, slipped in the oil and was burned, according to the affidavit. Emergency responders took him to a hospital after the incident.
The affidavit says his injuries were fourth-degree burns, indicating a serious and potentially life-threatening injury. Police did not immediately provide additional information about his condition after he was hospitalized.
The account suggests the fire created more than structural damage. It also appears to have left a hazardous surface in the kitchen that contributed directly to the injury, compounding the danger inside the duplex.
Three other residents, including two children, were home upstairs
Police say three people who lived in the upstairs unit were also at home when the fire started. Two of those residents were children, according to the affidavit.
Officials have not said whether those upstairs occupants were injured or needed treatment. Even without reported injuries to them, their presence underscores how many people were exposed to the danger created by the fire.
The duplex setting matters because it meant the blaze threatened more than one household area. With people living above and below one another, the fire placed multiple residents at risk before crews were able to bring it under control.
Tonya Legard faces charges tied to fire and assault allegations
Legard is charged with four counts of endangering by fire and one count of aggravated assault. Police say the charges stem from the same incident at the southeast Minot duplex.
An affidavit is a sworn statement used in a criminal case to lay out the facts investigators believe support the charges. In this case, it includes the account attributed to Legard and the reported injuries to the man who was hospitalized.
The charging decision means the case now moves into the court process, where prosecutors will have to prove the allegations. No further court details were included in the information released by KX News.
The case raises questions about motive and the fire's cause
Police have not said what led up to the fire or described a motive in the affidavit information made public. They also did not explain exactly what ignited the oil and paper towels Legard allegedly used.
Those unanswered questions leave the circumstances around the blaze incomplete for now, even as the charges show investigators believe the act was intentional. The damaged kitchen, the hospitalized man and the presence of children upstairs all point to a potentially much more serious outcome.
For now, the case centers on the police account of what happened that night and the felony counts filed against Legard. Additional details may emerge as the case continues through the legal system.