Armed Man Arrested at House Fire

Update Tuesday
Police have released the name of the man charged in an house fire over the holiday weekend.

Daniel Martin, 48, of Hope Road, is charged with arson, obstruction of justice, resisting arrest and drunk in public, said Stafford sheriff’s spokesman Bill Kennedy.

Authorities say Martin set fire to a house on Hope Road on Saturday afternoon, then holed himself up in an attached garage at the home with a gun.

When fire crews arrived to douse the blaze, they were told to retreat from the scene because an armed man was nearby, according to officials with the Stafford Fire and Rescue Department

Original Post 8:52 p.m.
Stafford County, Va. — An armed man impeded firefighters from dousing a blaze at a Stafford home.

Fire and rescue crews were called at 3:33 p.m. to 594 Hope Road in the Aquia section of Stafford County for a report of a fire in a single-story home.

When fire crews arrived, they found the house fully engulfed in flames and were told that someone was possibly trapped inside the sturcture, said Stafford fire and rescue spokesman Mark Doyle.

Firefighters deployed attack lines into the house and began searching for anyone who might still be inside, but as they entered the house crews were notified of an armed man in a detached garage adjacent to the burning home.

Evacuation tones were sounded and fire crews ordered to exit the burning house, said Doyle.
Sheriff’s deptuties were callled to the scene and eventually arredted the man.

Afterward, fire crews learned that the two adults and one child that had been inside the house before fire crews arrived had made it out of the house safely and, and firefighters resumed their attack.

They were able to bring douse the flames within 45 minutes, said Doyle.

A fire marshal is working to determine the cuase of the fire.

A Stafford sheriff’s office spokesman was unable to provide inforamtion on the man who was arrested.