By Michael Bielawski,
A homeless person’s tent was lit on fire in a disturbing arson incident in Burlington, the victim had to be transported to the hospital but the injuries were not described as life-threatening. Also, the suspect in 2021 engaged with the City Council on homeless people's rights.
The arson incident occurred on Friday, late in the morning at about 11:42 AM.
The police report which was released on Monday states that the BPD officers “responded to an encampment north of the waterfront dog park for a report of injuries from a fire.”
It continues that when officers arrived on the scene they learned that a woman suspect had “set fire to an occupied tent.” This suspect was identified as Carol Layton, 39, of Burlington.
The victim fortunately survived but with injuries. The report states, “An individual received injuries from the fire and was medically evaluated by the Burlington Fire Department, who was also on scene. The victim was later transported to the University of Vermont Medical Center.”
Police later that day found Layton by about 2:49 PM. It states, “Officers with the BPD located Layton. Layton was taken into custody for second-degree arson and aggravated assault.”
Suspect a homeless rights advocate?
The suspect Layton has been in the news before but not for causing trouble, she’s been an outspoken advocate to the City Council regarding the city’s policies for dealing with homeless encampments.
During the public comment period at a 2021 Council meeting, she said, “We’re people. We’re trying to make a life. We actually have a community that cares about each other, that takes care of each other. And all you guys want to do is smack us back down. You’re destroying what we’ve built.”
Residents don’t trust press releases?
When ABC/Fox News networks posted a story about this incident on Facebook, the first response was by Arthur Peryea who noted the press release didn’t come out until three days after the incident. He wrote, “I hope they check with the mayor first before printing the article.”
He added, “It's a very ‘sanitized’ article plus it happened last Friday so I think the Mayor probably took her pen to it.” Another Facebook commenter reiterated this observation.
Not the first encampment fire
There was a homeless encampment fire near Battery Park in 2023. This fire was not determined to be arson and there were no serious injuries. It was largely propelled by materials within the camp including tarps and a wooden platform.
A commenter on the VDC story, ‘CHenry’ suggested that the city government is not doing its part to mitigate these events.
He wrote, “Burlington opened its door to allowing this to happen, if the city cared it would help, as probably have a mental issue, and we know for sure there is a drug concern with ‘needles’ found everywhere, but the liberal thinking let’s give them a place to shoot up, how pathetic display they are not helping they are promoting illegal drug use.”
A disturbing trend?
At the end of 2024, there was a similar incident on a subway train in New York City that was fatal. In this instance, the attacker lit a sleeping passenger on fire. In interviews with police, the alleged attacker showed odd behaviors including signs of genuine remorse combined with no recollection of his actions. He told police that he had been drinking.
In all arson remains a small percentage of homicides in the US compared with other methods. A report on Statista states, “In 2023, a total of 71 people were killed due to arson in the United States. This was significantly lower than the 312 people who were killed in robberies in the country in that same year.”
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle
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