SANTA ROSA (KRON) — A fire on Easter Sunday has left four families from Santa Rosa with no place to live–and all of their belongings are destroyed.
But it’s who started this fire and why that makes this story much worse.
A woman who was about to be evicted set herself on fire, firefighters said on Monday. She was trying to kill herself, but instead, burned down her entire apartment complex.
Melissa McMullin, 44, barricaded the bedroom door, poured the gas on her bed, herself and the bedroom of her apartment and lit it with a lighter around 5:30 p.m., Fire Inspector Cyndi Foreman said.
McMullin then tried to escape through a bedroom window of her home at 199 Barbara Drive, but one of her sons, Robert, who was next door, kicked the door in and dragged her outside, Foreman said.
“I cannot understand why my mom did what she did,” Robert said.
“The house was exploding while me and my mom were in the house,” he added.
McMullin suffered third-degree burns on her arms and feet and was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
“She was feeling desperate. She didn’t want to live. I’ve never seen someone try to commit suicide by lighting themselves on fire,” Foreman said. “It’s a very tragic story.”
Because McMullin’s clothing was too soaked to be ignited by the gas, her burn injuries were not lethal.
“The gas vapors cause the real damage,” Foreman said.
The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office and county mental health service workers will assist the Central Fire Authority with the investigation, Foreman said.
“The challenge is the mental health side of it, but there will be charges,” Foreman said.
McMullin lived alone in the 500-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment off Moorland Avenue just outside southwest Santa Rosa city limits in unincorporated Sonoma County. She was to be evicted April 30.
The fire destroyed two units and caused smoke damage to the remaining units, Santa Rosa Battalion Chief Ken Sebastiani said.
Damage is estimated at $500,000, Foreman said.Bay City News contributed to this report