Brewster blaze: Police arrest suspected apartment fire arsonist after confession

BREWSTER, New York (WABC) -- A suspected arsonist has confessed to setting a fire at a three-story apartment building located in the village of Brewster in Southeast, NY, police say.

On June 11, first responders arriving at 8 Old Route 6 found a three-story, ten-unit apartment building engulfed in flame.

Building resident Mary Brown says she was woken by a smoke detector. She works nights as a nurse's aide and sleeps during the day.

Brown said her smoke detector had been going off regularly for the last couple of weeks, but she got up and soon realized the gravity of her situation. That gut instinct may have saved her life.

"There was a ball of fire," Brown recalled her harrowing escape.

A building resident told Eyewitness News that only three residents were home at the time of the fire, and that everyone got out safely. The structure was seriously damaged, and all families living in the building lost their homes.

During an interview with police, top-floor resident Brian Cronin, 43, of Southeast, NY, confessed to intentionally setting the fire in his apartment.

Cronin was arrested on arson charges and remanded to Putnam County Jail.

The property owner told Eyewitness News that Cronin paid his rent on time for years and hadn't been a problem until recently, when residents started submitting noise complaints.

Police say the investigation into the fire's cause remains ongoing.