Two face arson charges in house fire

Home was in foreclosure

Friday, July 4, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo byREID SILVERMAN A house in Cedar Cove was destroyed in an early Wednesday morning fire. Two people have been arrested and charged with setting the fire. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

Lisa M. Tippett, 43, of Lexington Park, and Ian R. Simpson, 39, of Lusby, have been charged with first-degree arson for allegedly setting the two-alarm fire on Columbia Street in the Cedar Cove community of Lexington Park. In a statement released by the fire marshal’s office, both are listed as having ‘‘no fixed address.”

Deputy State Fire Marshal Howard F. Ewing said Tippett is listed as the home’s owner and lived there until recently, when the bank foreclosed on the property and forced her to vacate the premises. The Columbia Street address was vacant at the time of the fire, Ewing said.

It took more than 50 volunteer firefighters from Bay District, Hollywood, Ridge and the Second District departments, as well as personnel from Patuxent River Naval Air Station, about 40 minutes to bring the 2:30 a.m. fire under control.

‘‘The house was well involved by the time we got there,” said Wayne Johnson, Bay District’s chief, who said the first firefighters arrived within a few minutes of receiving the call.

‘‘Fire was already coming through the roof,” he said. ‘‘We called a second alarm right away and had to fight it defensively. It was too far gone to try to send anyone inside.”

According to the fire marshal’s office, the house was valued at between $250,000 and $300,000.

In a statement of probable cause in charging documents, Deputy Fire Marshal Don Brenneman wrote that Tippett and Simpson ‘‘called the St. Mary’s ‘911’ control stating that they had started the fire.

‘‘Lisa Tippett,” Brenneman’s statement continues, ‘‘stated that she lost her house ... to foreclosure and no longer lived there. That morning around 2:30 a.m. she along with Ian Simpson went to the house to sleep. Mr. Simpson went downstairs to locate a candle for light. After a few minutes he came upstairs. A few minutes later they began to smell smoke coming from downstairs, they both fled the residence.”

Brenneman added that ‘‘Simpson also gave a written statement stating that he had gone downstairs to locate a candle and was using a lit, rolled-up paper for light ... as he walked throughout the basement he noticed burning debris coming from the paper and falling on clothing and other discarded material throughout the house ... he said that he made sure that the burning debris had been extinguished by stomping on it. He then went upstairs to be with Ms. Tippett, it was a few minutes later the basement was on fire.”

Tippett and Simpson were later arraigned and taken to the county detention center on $10,000 bond.

‘‘If convicted,” Ewing said of the charges that have been placed, ‘‘Tippett and Simpson could face penalties not to exceed 30 years imprisonment and⁄or $50,000 in fines.”

Lisa Tippett and her husband, Mark, were living at the Columbia Street address in September 2006, when Mark, then 44, was reported missing.

Mark Tippett had been the service manager at Cedar Cove’s Spyglass community for 15 years at the time of his disappearance. At the time, Lisa Tippett said she feared her husband had taken his own life and his body had not been found. Mark’s sister, Sherry Tippett, however, has said she suspected that her brother was the victim of foul play.

Mark Tippett has never been found and his disappearance is still under investigation.