Authorities: Rosemont woman set Woodridge apartment fire
Bail was set at $1 million Thursday for a Rosemont woman accused of setting fire to a Woodridge apartment building early Monday as dozens of residents slept.
Maria Bustamante, 29, of the 2800 block of Irving Park Road, appeared in DuPage County bond court on a charge of aggravated arson. Authorities said Bustamante started a fire in the hallway outside a first-floor unit at the Windsor Lakes apartment complex about 3 a.m. Monday. Police said she had a relationship with the man who lives at the apartment where the fire was set.
“There have been some problems in the relationship,” Woodridge Police Chief Ken Boehm said. “Clearly, this crime was directed at him.”
Police were still analyzing evidence to determine if Bustamante used gas, lighter fluid or another accelerant to start the fire, Boehm said.
No one was injured in the blaze, but several residents were evacuated as thick smoke filled the three-story building at 7325 Woodward Ave.
“Had this thing progressed longer and larger — and we didn’t get an early warning — we would have been dealing with a much different situation,” Fire Prevention Director Robert Morris of the Darien-Woodridge Fire District said.
Prosecutors allege Bustamante knew people were likely asleep inside when she started the fire. If convicted, she could face up to 30 years in prison.
“The allegations against Ms. Bustamante are outrageous,” State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a news release. He credited firefighters for a “quick response and for getting the situation under control as quickly as they did.”
Fire investigators deemed the blaze suspicious almost immediately, identifying burn patterns on and around the door to the first-floor unit. Morris said the man who lived there was at work at the time.
Officials estimated the fire caused about $25,000 damage to the roughly 45-unit building. Morris said working smoke detectors were key to residents’ safety.
“The warning systems worked to allow us to get in there at an early stage,” he said.
Bustamante is set to appear March 19 in front of DuPage County Judge John Kinsella.