Disgruntled Timeshare Owner is Arson Suspect

A total of sixteen timeshare villas were damaged on Friday night when a fire began in the exterior wall of Villa 106 at the Inn on Pawtucket in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Several guests were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene, but there were no other injuries from the fire. The resort has now been closed pending inspections and the timeshare guests occupying the property at the time were relocated to area hotels.

Reportedly, the fire in the bayside New England timeshare resort started small, but spread to the roof and interior walls of the property. The timeshare resort was built as a historic inn in the 1920’s and did not have a sprinkler system, although ironically, was schedule to have a fire repression system installed next month as part of scheduled renovations. To make matters worse, the fire hydrant outside the property had been welded closed and was inoperable. Critical time was lost, as firefighters had to wait for a water tanker to arrive.

Police expect formal charges to be filed and a suspect is already in custody. From the fire hydrant, a forensics team has gathered fingerprints belonging to an unhappy timeshare owner who had been vocal in his displeasure regarding increased timeshare maintenance fees as well as the special assessment to be charged for the planned improvements (including enhance fire safety system). News sources say that the suspect has already confessed.

Steve Traut, the Inn’s general manager says, “It’s hard to believe that someone would do this. There are families here with children.”