Tulsa arson suspect arrested

A man is in the Tulsa County jail thanks to fire investigators. <br/><br/> The damage was caused February 8th at a home on North Johnstown in Tulsa.<br/> <br/> Fire Marshals arrested 21 year old

Friday, February 24th 2006, 4:09 pm

By: News On 6

A man is in the Tulsa County jail thanks to fire investigators.

The damage was caused February 8th at a home on North Johnstown in Tulsa.

Fire Marshals arrested 21 year old Ishmael Shinault. Investigators say he set the fire... with three people inside. They all got out safely. Investigators say it was a domestic dispute.
Captain Larry Bowles of the Tulsa Fire Department says "Arson is a very difficult crime to prove, our investigators are absolutely great."
Shinault is charged with first degree arson... which carries up to 35 years in prison if convicted.
There were 307 arson fires in Tulsa in 2005... up 17 percent from most years. All of those investigations were handled by Tulsa's eight fire marshals.
"It's aggravating. It's aggravating to Firemen, property owners, people lose their possessions, vehicle fire loss is significant and has been significant in the past here in Tulsa, so it's very frustrating." says Asst Fire Marshal TD Cline of the Tulsa Fire Department.
There were 80 fire investigations in Tulsa, just last month alone. Everything from small grass fires... all the way up to fires that threaten homes and lives.
Tulsa Fire Marshals arrested 53 people for arson in 2005. All cases are taken very seriously.
"You can run, but you can't hide. We'll eventually find the truth." says Bowles.
Fire investigators are actually trained and certified police officers. They make arrests in the arson investigations.
Anyone with information that can help investigators with arson cases should call the Arrest Arson hotline at 5-9-6, A-R-S-N.
The Tulsa Fire Department credits the Arrest Arson program that runs each Monday on the News on 6, with making people aware of Tulsa's arson problem.