 Blaze
Destroys Home
Brittany Lawonn, The Forum
Published Thursday, September 13, 2007
Moorhead firemen pick away the framework of a door as they look for hotspots in the walls of an apartment fire Wednesday at 3525 Village Green Drive, unit A, in Moorhead. Photos by Dave Wallis / The Forum
The fiancee of a suspected murderer said while she and her children escaped safely from a fire at their home Wednesday, Moe Maurice Gibbs also lost everything inside.
Authorities said late Wednesday afternoon that her son started the blaze that displaced the family.
Amy Gibbs said she had just turned on the stove to make her 4-year-old son lunch when he came into the kitchen saying, “Mommy, the house is on fire.”
Gibbs said she turned to see a blanket in her living room ablaze and unsuccessfully tried to put it out before fleeing with her son, daughter and mother from the house.
Her 4-year-old son told authorities he “was playing underneath the couch and some blankets and said that he lit the couch on fire with the match,” said Moorhead Fire Marshall Rich Duysen.
The boy will be referred for possible counseling, Duysen said.
Firefighting units from Fargo and Moorhead responded after being called at 1:37 p.m. Wednesday to the fire at 3525 Village Green Drive in Moorhead, said Joel Hewitt, Moorhead fire chief.
It took about 10 minutes to knock down the blaze, which gutted the whole unit, left nothing of value inside and caused mild smoke damage to the neighboring unit, Duysen said.
Gibbs, who legally changed her last name from Olson earlier this year, was living in the north unit of a six-unit townhouse complex.
Erica Garcia, 28, was home with her 2-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter in her townhome three doors down from Gibbs’ unit when the fire broke out.
Garcia said she was cleaning out her refrigerator when a neighbor pounded on the door and yelled to get out.
“I grabbed my kids and ran out, and I saw a whole bunch of fire coming out of the sliding door” of Gibbs’ unit, Garcia said.
Riki Boatright and her fiancee, a local musician known as “Blind Joe,” fled their townhouse after hearing sirens from approaching fire trucks.
There was so much smoke “pouring out” of Gibbs’ unit when they got outside that they could not even see across the street, Boatright said.
A damage estimate is not available, but Duysen said he would not be surprised if it reached $50,000.
Moe Maurice Gibbs is slated to face a second murder trial Oct. 22 for the Sept. 13, 2006, death of Mindy Morgenstern.
Forum reporter Mike Nowatzki contributed to this report.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Brittany Lawonn at (701) 241-5541
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