San Rafael woman arrested for arson fires

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. -- Police have arrested a woman suspected of starting two fires on San Rafael Hill on Monday afternoon.

Hope Teresa Windom, 38, of San Rafael, is scheduled to be arraigned on arson and probation violation charges this afternoon in Marin County Superior Court. She is being held in Marin County Jail on $50,000 bail.

Windom is suspected of starting a 500-square-foot fire near a homeless encampment behind the Falkirk Cultural Center at 1408 Mission Ave. around 1 p.m. Monday. The fire was quickly contained, San Rafael Fire Chief Chris Gray said.

A second fire was reported around 2:10 p.m. a few hundred yards away, Gray said. That fire, which burned roughly an acre, was extinguished in about 45 minutes, Gray said.

Witnesses reported seeing a woman at the scene of both fires, Gray said.

San Rafael police Sgt. Mike Vergara said Windom, who is a transient, went to the police station at about 4 p.m. Monday to discuss an unrelated incident.

"At the end of the interview, we felt she was involved in the fires," Vergara said. Windom was arrested for arson at 5:15 p.m.

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