SOUTH PORTLAND — A fire in an Ocean Street apartment on Sept. 28 was the result of arson, state investigators said.

Maine Public Safety Department Spokesman Stephen McCausland said the fire at 81 Ocean St. occurred when someone set clothes on fire on top of a kitchen stove. Police have a male suspect and are working with the Cumberland County district attorney’s office to determine whether any charges should be pursued, McCausland. 

The fire led to the discovery of a dead woman in a nearby apartment. She was later identified as Alyssa Jensen, a 24-year-old who pleaded guilty in 2004 to setting her family’s Fayette home on fire.

Investigators are still awaiting the results of a toxicology test to determine the cause of Jensen’s death. McCausland said the death is not considered suspicious and was not related to the fire.  

The apartments at 81 Ocean St. are owned and managed by Volunteers of America, a nonprofit, faith-based organization that helps people who are at-risk, disabled or recently released from prison.


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