AUSTIN, Texas — A 44-year-old woman has been charged with arson in connection with a fire at the Ascension Seton Shoal Creek Medical Center on Sunday that injured one employee and damaged the facility.
The Austin Fire Department (AFD) received a call about a fire at a midrise at the medical center around 5:44 a.m. on July 21. Crews arrived on the scene at 5:52 a.m. and found the remnants of an extinguished fire inside one of the patient rooms, AFD said.
Investigators processed the scene and spoke with witnesses, who described the suspect, Carmel Norris, setting a bed and pillow on fire with a lighter she had smuggled into the facility.
AFD arson investigators interviewed Norris after providing her with a Miranda warning. She confessed to the act during that conversation, according to AFD.
Norris was arrested and booked into the Travis County Jail. She is charged with arson, a first-degree felony.
One employee of the facility suffered smoke inhalation, and the incident caused an estimated $50,000 in damages to the facility and $1,000 in damages to the property inside the room.