CHESTERTOWN — The Office of the Maryland State Fire Marshal has made an arrest related to a structure fire last month in a residential area of downtown Chestertown.
Kwame Tarel Custis, on Aug. 2, was served a district court arrest warrant charging him with making a threat of arson.
He was taken into custody with the assistance of the Chestertown Police Department.
Custis, 34, was released on $5,000 unsecured bond, according to the Maryland Judiciary website.
According to the application for statement of charges, Custis is reported to be “homeless in the area of Chestertown.”
The warrant for Custis’ arrest was issued July 30.
Custis’ trial is set for Sept. 16 in the District Court for Kent County.
His arrest is related to the OSFM’s ongoing investigation of a shed fire July 2 on Cannon Street.
No injuries were reported and no one was displaced.
The alarm sounded minutes before midnight for the fire in the 300-block of Cannon Street, between Cross Street and South Mill Street.
The first firefighters on the scene reported that one shed was 100% involved with fire and a second shed about 60% involved, along with an adjacent wooden privacy fence, according to a post on the Chestertown Volunteer Fire Company’s Facebook page.
Two other sheds sustained heat damage and there was “severe heat impingement” on a nearby car, according to the fire company’s social media post.
The fire marshal’s office estimated the value of the loss — to the structures and contents — to be $10,000.
Chestertown VFC was the primary responding agency, with Crumpton and Church Hill fire companies also sending crews.
According to the OSFM, 25 firefighters responded and brought the fire under control in 35 minutes.
A neighbor called in the fire at 11:58 p.m.
As part of the investigation, senior deputy state fire marshals spoke with a resident of the 300-block of Cannon Street who said that a man identified as Custis had threatened to set fire to their detached shed, according to the charging document.
The resident told investigators that the threat was made during a verbal altercation with Custis about two months ago in Fountain Park on High Street.
The resident “voluntarily provided a written statement detailing the incident,” S/DSFM John Grothe wrote in the charging document.
Anyone with information related to this fire is asked to contact the fire marshal’s Upper Eastern Regional Office at 410-822-7609 or the Arson Hotline at 1-800-492-7529.
