THOMASVILLE, N.C. — A family home with burnt picture frames still hanging on the walls. Investigators said the wife and mother who lived there caused the destruction.
“You never know what people got in their minds, especially nowadays,” next door neighbor, James Ramsey said.
Police arrested Theresa Varner and charged her with two counts of first-degree arson, second-degree arson, felonious burning of personal property, and two counts of felonious cruelty to animals.
She has worked as a 911 call operator for more than a decade.
Her husband is often on the other end of dispatch calls, as an officer.
“It's unbelievable, I mean, you know, they've been there for a while,” Ramsey said.
Ramsey has lived in the home right next to Varner’s for 25 years now.
His home was damaged by the flames that came from her house.
He told WFMY News 2’s Nixon Norman that all of the warped and damaged siding on his home would have to be replaced.
“You know the smell of that melting siding, it's all in the house. I just live with it I guess,” Ramsey said.
The house on the other side of Varner’s home was damaged too. But that's not all, police say two family pets died inside the fire, a dog and a cat.
“To go off and leave her animals inside the house and kill her pets, what kind of a person does something like that?” Ramsey said.
A nearby neighbor, Joshua Morris, saw the whole thing.
He even heard the family's dog whimpering when first responders brought it outside.
“It was in a kennel cage, it couldn't get out… and you know, it's brutal,” Morris said.
Morris said the whole situation shocked him, especially Varner being charged with arson.
“That never crossed my mind really, electrical fire was the first. anything unfortunate could have happened but you know, you never know I guess,” Morris said.
Both Morris and Ramsey said their hearts go out to the couple’s son.
“That's what I feel the worst about. What he's gonna have to go through,” Ramsey said.
At this point, police said they have no evidence that suggests Varner’s husband, the officer, had any knowledge of his wife's plans or anything to do with the fire.