Arrest Made In Fire That Injured Capt. Pete Dern

Fresno Fire Investigators arrested Julia Harper, 52, Wednesday. She is charged with unlawful fire causing great bodily injury. They say she admitted to setting the fire that injured Fresno Fire Captain Pete Dern.

"She has a past record of putting things on fire. She likes to put things on fire," Harper’s former housing manager, Art Dean said.

Art Dean has lived in this home on Cortland Avenue for more than a year. It’s a boarding house that he oversees.  For the past few months, he’s lived alongside 52-year-old Julia Harper.

"I’m really happy, I’m ready to cry. I’m really happy they got her," Dean said.

Harper was arrested Wednesday by the Fresno Fire Department for allegedly setting the home on fire, the same fire that gravely injured Fresno Fire Captain Pete Dern.

"Harper admitted to her responsibility in starting this fire," Fresno Fire Chief Kerri Donis said.

Investigators aren’t releasing many details into how it happened, but Dean says he had kicked Harper out of the home because she tried to start a fire in the garage the day before.

He says after Harper was kicked out, she made threats.

"If she can’t come back in the house, mind you, she’s going to put the house and the garage on fire," Dean said.

On the morning of the fire an unidentified woman living at the home called police. Police arrived and made contact with Harper, who they say was not making sense. Officers cleared the scene, and the fire started two hours later.

The penalties for setting a fire where someone is critically injured are severe.

"A defendant would be found exposed to up to 6 to 7 years in prison. There may be other charges pending," Deputy Fire Marshal Don MacAlpine said.
 
This isn’t the first time Harper has been linked to a suspicious fire. In a bizarre 2009 incident in Bakersfield, investigators say they were called to an incident and found Harper on fire.
 
"Her boyfriend’s account is he came around to see her on fire and made attempts at that point to help put her out," MacAlpine said.
 
Harper’s former landlord says he’s sure of one thing, she should not be walking the streets.

"She needs to be locked up and put away until she’s right," Dean said.

Harper is being held at the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office on a $ 75,000 bond. Right now, she only has the one charge, but investigators say other charges are pending.