OCALA, Fla. – A hotel in Ocala was evacuated Tuesday morning after police said a 16-year-old girl set a couch on fire in one of the hallways.
Ocala Fire Rescue said crews responded to a structure fire at the Hilton Ocala, located at 3600 SW 36th Ave., around 3:24 a.m. Tuesday.
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According to an arrest affidavit, the suspect called 911 about the fire, which was extinguished within minutes and caused no injuries.
The girl told the dispatcher she had gotten into a fight with her mom and was scared, the affidavit reads.
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Surveillance footage from the hotel shows the girl walk up to the couch with a lighter and “light the corner of a pillow on fire” before walking out of the lobby and into the parking lot. Officers said they later located the lighter seen in the video.
Hotel guests were evacuated from the building and able to return to their rooms that same morning, according to the affidavit.
Investigators said the damage to the hotel was estimated to be approximately a couple hundred thousand dollars.
The girl was arrested and faces charges for arson of an occupied structure and criminal mischief greater than $1,000.
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