A woman who lost her house in a divorce allegedly set it on fire and sparked an inferno that spread to 19 neighbouring homes – killing a cat and two dogs.
Adrienne Satterly, 41, is accused of piling mattresses on the kitchen floor and lighting them on fire before leaving her former marital home for the last time.
As the flames spread while her neighbours slept, she left with her two cats and walked to a Walmart before calling 911, say fire officials in the US city of Hiram, Georgia.
She told a 911 dispatcher that she had a “kitty cat and a suitcase” and she wanted someone to come and pick her up from the department store.
Nearly 30 firefighters raced to the inferno and evacuated neighbouring properties as they desperately tried to save houses on the block.
Adrienne Satterly was charged with arson and animal cruelty (Image: Hiram Police Department)
By the time the fire was extinguished it had destroyed four homes – leaving families with nothing – and damaged 16 others, causing more than $1million (£715,000) in damage.
Authorities said dozens of lives were put at risk but all of the occupants made it out alive, including one man who suffered an ankle injury.
Satterly has been charged with 14 counts of first-degree arson and three counts of aggravated animal cruelty over the deaths of the cat and dogs.
If convicted she faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000 (£36,000).
She called 911 at 3.25am on Sunday after walking to a Walmart, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
In a recording of the call, Satterly asks a dispatcher to send a car to pick her up from the store, adding she had a “kitty cat and a suitcase” with her.
She gave the address of the home in nearby Rosemont Court and said she had been ordered to leave the residence due to a case, but did not mention anything about a fire.
It was not known what happened after the call.
She was arrested on public drunkenness charges before she was formally charged with the arson and animal cruelty counts, it was reported.
Neighbour Yolanda Woodland, whose dogs died in the fire, told of the terrifying moment she woke up and realised her house was on fire.
She told Fox News: “The house next door, the whole thing was already engulfed in flames, our living room and kitchen was already on fire.
“Within two minutes, the house was engulfed in flames. I mean it went really quick.”
A cat and two dogs were killed in the fire (Image: Atlanta Red Cross)
She and her daughter, Auzalea Godfrey, have lost everything, and were barely able to get out and alert other neighbours as the blaze was fanned by high winds.
Another neighbour, Shemiah Hedgebeth, told WSB-TV: “It’s just senseless and it’s sad. And it’s hateful, just hateful.”
The Red Cross was brought in to help about 20 neighbours who were displaced, including those whose homes were destroyed.
Satterly is being held at the country jail.
Deputy fire commissioner Jay Florence said: “This suspect committed a heinous act that threatened the lives of her neighbors and our first responders.”
Insurance Department spokesman Glenn Allen told the West Georgia Neighbour that Satterly was still living in the home despite losing it to her ex-husband Christopher.
Mr Allen added: “She was scheduled to leave the home.”
A stunned neighbour told the TV news station 11Alive: “This is a person that I saw and said good morning to and ‘How are your doing?’
“When she was going through hard times, I fed her. I even prayed with her. It’s unbelieveable.”
Documents revealed police had been called to the home nearly two dozen times in the past year for calls including domestic disputes, thefts and disagreements with tenants who were renting a room.