By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

The Biddeford woman arrested last week for arson admitted to setting two previous fires, according to investigators.

Nichole M.  Howe, 28, of Biddeford, was arrested for allegedly burning down the Cutts Street apartment building where she lived with her mother. Howe turned herself in to police Nov. 17 and was charged with Class A arson.

Howe is accused of setting the Nov. 9 fire outside the 10-unit, four-story apartment building in a densely populated neighborhood just off of Elm Street in downtown Biddeford. The $650,000 building was a total loss and 13 tenants, including Howe, were left homeless, according to court records.

Howe, who did not enter a plea during an initial court appearance Nov. 19, is being held at York County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

According to a court affidavit filed by Michael J. Keely, senior investigator with the state Fire Marshal’s Office, the building’s front entry porch was heavily damaged during the fire. Howe used a baby carriage stuffed with newspapers under the front porch to start the fire, said Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

In hours following the fire, Howe gave tearful interviews to at least two television stations, McCausland said.

During a Nov. 10 interview, Howe denied setting the fire “but made the statement during the interview that she didn’t think the fire would have grown so fast,” Keely said in the affidavit.

Keely said Howe gave several versions of what happened before the fire. Howe first told investigators the carriage contained medical papers that belonged to her boyfriend, then later said that was a lie, according to Keely.

Howe told Keely “she did purposefully flick the cigarette into the baby carriage to start the fire,” according to the affidavit. Howe also told investigators she placed a cigarette inside a blanket in the baby carriage. Brenda Smith, the fourth-floor tenant who owned the baby carriage, said there was only a beach towel inside the carriage, according to the affidavit.

“Howe stated she didn’t mean for the fire to get as big as it did,” Keely wrote.

McCausland said Howe is a suspect in three other fires at the building since last summer. According to the affidavit, Howe admitted to setting two small fires to draw attention to an alleged bed bug problem in the building. Howe told investigators she used a butane lighter to set a pallet of telephone books on fire on Aug. 21.

Firefighters on Aug. 23 put out a fire under the porch and found charred remains of two telephone books, a small bag of trash and a floor mop. Howe admitted to setting the fire with a butane lighter, Keely said.

Howe contacted the Courier two weeks before the Nov. 9 fire and said there were bed bugs and electrical problems in her apartment.

Code Enforcement Officer Roby Fecteau said Elizabeth Howe, Nichole Howe’s mother, came into the codes office on July 8 to report a bedbug problem. Fecteau said a pest management company was scheduled to do follow-up work in the apartment the next day, but tenants were uncooperative when the company arrived to inspect and treat the problem. The company told Fecteau tenants were not doing the prep work required before the problem was scheduled to be treated by professionals, he said.

Fecteau said the codes office closed the building several years ago because of codes violations. After the building was sold at auction, the new owner brought the building up to code before it was reopened at the end of 2009, he said.

Building owner Aaron Wiswell of Lebanon did not return calls seeking comment.

Elizabeth Howe called a short press conference in front of the motel where she was staying last week to address her daughter’s arrest. Elizabeth Howe declined repeatedly to comment specifically on the charges, but said she will stand behind her daughter.

“I lost a lot through this, too. I’m living in a hotel because I have nothing,” Elizabeth Howe said.

Howe said she feels bad the situation affected neighbors she considered friends.

“I do apologize for everything that has happened,” she said. “I do feel bad.”

Elizabeth Howe said she talked to her daughter once since her arrest and said she was “not in good spirits.”

“She’s emotionally a wreck, crying and just beside herself,” she said.

Howe ended the press conference abruptly when asked why she was apologizing.

Inside her motel room surrounded by family and friends, Elizabeth Howe said the only miracle to come out of the fire was finding her cat, Nahni, alive. She said she had three cats and knows that one died in the fire. The third may have been spotted in the neighborhood but no one has gotten close enough to confirm it is her cat, she said.

As she waits for her daughter’s next court date in February, Elizabeth Howe said she must focus on “putting my pieces back together.” She said she is impressed by the “awesome” response from the community and outpouring of support for the fire victims.

Smith, the fourth floor tenant, was in the motel room with her friend, Elizabeth Howe, following the press conference. Smith said she, her fiancé and their three children lost all of their belongings when fire tore through their apartment.

“It’s been rough. You have to be really headstrong,” she said. “If it weren’t for my family really being here for me, I don’t think I could have done it. I lost everything.”

Even as she and her family try to piece their life back together, Smith said it is amazing to watch the community pull together in support of her and her neighbors.

“It makes you think twice about what you had,” she said. “It makes me want to help once I’m settled. I want to pay it back.”

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.