Teen Accused of Arson Following Fire at Pasadena Youth Treatment Facility

Video provided by Ken Stickney. Used with permission.

Police arrested a teenage girl living at a youth treatment center in Pasadena on suspicion of arson after a fire engulfed much of the home’s second floor on Thursday, authorities said.

The fire erupted about 4:35 p.m. at a two-story home operated by Victor Treatment Centers in the 500 block of South Oakland Avenue, according to Pasadena police and fire officials.

All the residents, as well as three staff members, managed to get out of the home safely before firefighters arrived to find flames shooting from the home’s second-floor windows.

Firefighters extinguished the flames within 17 minutes, according to city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian. It remained primarily confined to a bedroom.

Investigators soon concluded the fire was no accident.

A 16-year-old girl living at the home had become angry following a meeting with staff, Pasadena police Lt. Anthony Burgess said. She had made threats just before the fire broke out and admitted to starting the fire, he said. She was arrested on suspicion of arson.

The blaze left the home uninhabitable, and the company relocated the residents and staff, Burgess said.

A dollar-value estimate of the damage was not available Friday.

The home “spearheads our Short Term Residential Therapeutic Program for girls ages 13-18 years of age and non-minor dependents up to the age of 19,” according to Victor Treatment Centers’ website.