What to Know
- A woman will spend at least a decade behind bars for igniting a fire that torched a Chester County apartment building in the summer of 2020.
- Toni Kirk was sentenced Tuesday in the fire at the Ashwood Apartments on 782 Worth Boulevard.
- At least seven people, including three firefighters, were hurt. The blaze caused about $6 million in damage.
More than three years after fire tore through a Chester County apartment building, leaving more than 100 people out of their homes, the woman who set the blaze has learned her fate.
On Tuesday, a judge sentenced Toni Kirk to 10 to 20 years behind bars for igniting that July 2020 three-alarm fire that tore through the Ashwood Apartments on Worth Boulevard in North Coventry Township, the Chester County District Attorney's Office said.
"Kirk was convicted of aggravated assault, causing and risking a catastrophe, and related offenses in October 2023," the DA's office said in a news release. "There was over $6 million dollars of damage as a result."
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
Flames jumped from unit to unit as fire engulfed the apartment building on July 30, 2020. A resident and authorities said that the fire began in a single unit before it quickly spread.
"Kirk was identified as the sole occupant of the apartment and officers found her outside, uninjured, but was under the influence of drugs," the DA's office said.
It took more than 200 firefighters and EMTs from 16 different fire companies from Berks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties to bring the blaze under control, authorities said.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
North Coventry Township police said in a statement at the time that three firefighters and four residents were taken by ambulance to hospitals for injuries. At least one firefighter could be seen being taken away on a stretcher.
“The defendant’s reckless behavior caused devastation to over 100 innocent people who lost their homes, belongings, and even their beloved animals," Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said in a news release shared Wednesday with NBC10. "More than 200 first responders assisted and some sustained serious injuries. We are thankful to all of the first responders who risked their lives during this horrific incident."
The fire destroyed the entire roof and the building was evacuated with multiple people rescued.
"It was popping like fireworks exploding," Oscar Brunner, a neighbor, told NBC10 at the time. "Something was fueling it."
Chester County Chief Fire Marshal John Weer later determined the fire was incendiary and began near a bed in Kirk's apartment.
Sherry Ruchinski, a resident of the apartments at the time, was on the third floor watering her sister's plants when the fire began.
"I didn't take it seriously. I thought it would be out in minutes," she said. "I came down five minutes later the alarm went off and a fellow was banging saying, 'Get out. There's a fire.'"
Ruchinski watched as her apartment went up in flames.
SkyForce10 was over the scene as huge flames and plumes of smoke rose from the building.
Firefighters were eventually able to bring the flames under control. Hot spots and flames, however, continued to flare up inside the gutted structure the next day.
Kirk was arrested in the days after the fire.
Kirk tearfully apologized in court Tuesday to fellow residents left picking up the pieces after the blaze, according to NBC10 newsgathering partner KYW Newsradio.
Kirk said she wished the blaze never happened and her addiction to drugs fueled it, KYW reported.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox.
