DEL CITY, Okla. – Police in Oklahoma believe a feud between two next-door neighbors served as the catalyst for one homeowner to attempt to burn down the other’s home.
The footage that caught 59-year-old Annie Durham throwing something on fire over her fence and into her neighbor’s side door came from Durham’s own security cameras.
Durham participated in an interview with Oklahoma’s News 4 after the fire had been put out. “All I know is I was in the house, and I saw smoke but I was like, ‘okay, maybe everything is okay. They will put it out or whatever.’”
After evaluating Durham’s interview and her home security footage records (to which police investigators had been given passwords by Durham herself), investigators identified the woman in the television interview as the woman who had started the fire. Neighbors, including Durham, explained that the house had long been used by drug addicts and migrants, and that the fire department had been there multiple times over the years.
Del City firefighters were called to the scene at 2:45 p.m. on June 10. They effectively knocked down the garage’s flames by fighting the fire from the house’s perimeter. When firefighters were finally able to enter the house, they found the basement flooded with eight feet of standing water.
“It placed our firefighters at great harm. We could easily talking about a firefighter fatality,” Pursell said. “We understand the neighborhood dispute, but you definitely don’t resort to fire as a means of conflict resolution.”
Durham has been booked into the Oklahoma County Jail, where she faces charges of second-degree arson.
This story was written by KHQ Intern Hannah Mumm
