Teen accused of arson in fire at family home

AUGUSTA – A Fayette teenager has been charged with arson after her family’s home was destroyed by fire early Sunday morning, police said Tuesday. The teenager’s parents and four siblings escaped the fire.

Charged with arson is 18-year-old Alyssa Jensen, who was arrested in Oakland Monday evening by Fire Marshal Investigator Kenneth Grimes. She is being held at the Kennebec County Jail in Augusta.

Fire investigators say Jensen poured a flammable liquid inside the family’s single-story, wood-frame home on the Palmer Hill Road in Fayette while her family slept. The family was awakened by the fire and by smoke detectors and was able to escape through widows and a side door. One of them ran to a neighbor’s home to call the fire department.

The house was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived around 2:45 a.m. and all that is left standing of the house are two walls. The house was owned by Stuart and Paula Jensen. Paula Jensen suffered minor burns on her feet while escaping the fire, but did not require immediate medical treatment. No one else was injured.

Investigators began looking for Jensen on Sunday when she disappeared after the fire. Debris from the fire is being analyzed at the state police crime laboratory in Augusta. Jensen will appear in Augusta District Court today.