Jacksonville Beach House Fire

JACKSONVILLE BEACH — A woman was arrested today and charged with attempted homicide in connection with a fire that destroyed her boyfriend’s house at 815 16th Ave. S.

Melissa Armer, 23, is also charged with two counts of arson and making a firebomb. She is accused of setting the house on fire following a dispute with her boyfriend, Shawn Duerfeldt, about 2:30 p.m., said Jacksonville Beach police spokesman Sgt. Thomas Bingham.

Armer and Duerfeldt were taken to Baptist Medical Center-Beaches for observation and treatment. Two other people in the home escaped without injury.

A neighbor who called 911, Andrew Ware, said he heard Armer say that she set the house ablaze. Ware said the victim ran to his house asking for help.

“The neighbor next door, he was just freaking out,” said Ware. “Apparently, he was in the back bedroom and she put some gasoline on a cloth and threw it at him. His eyes were all bloodshot and he was really dirty from all the smoke. I didn’t see his back but apparently that’s where he was really burned.”