PORT JERVIS – A 50-year-old Port Jervis woman has been charged with six counts of attempted murder for setting several fires in her first-floor apartment in Port Jervis early Tuesday, jeopardizing the lives of the six second-floor residents.
Dawn Hulse was also charged with arson in connection with the fires in the two-family home at 156 Jersey Avenue.
When Port Jervis Police arrived on the scene at around 12:20 a.m., they saw the residents of the second-floor apartment, three adults and three children – an infant, five and 15-year-old – evacuating.
Officers attempted to make entry to her apartment, but she had barricaded the doors. When they finally forced entry, they found several fires burning inside the apartment and attempted to put them out with fire extinguishers.
The heavy smoke forced the officers out. The fire department arrived, put out the fires and searched for Hulse, who was found unresponsible lying face down in the bathtub in a bathroom.
She was transported to Bon Secours Community Hospital for treatment.
An investigation by Port Jervis Police and Fire Departments, the Orange County Fire Investigation Unit, and Orange County District Attorney’s Office determined the fires were intentionally set and the electronic circuit breaker powering the smoke detectors for the building was disconnected before the fire was set.
Hulse was arraigned and remanded to the Orange County Jail without bail.
This wasn’t the first time Hulse was charged with arson. On November 12, 2021, she was charged in the Village of Goshen with attempted arson for allegedly attempting to set fire to a building on Railroad Avenue on October 16.
Attempted arson is not a crime for which bail can be set under the state’s new reform laws so she was released without bail.
Both cases will be joined in a single indictment presented to the same grand jury.
