Woman arrested in connection with string of downtown Modesto dumpster fires
A woman has been arrested and charged in connection with six trash and dumpster fires set Monday morning in downtown Modesto, including one that damaged part of G Street’s A&W drive-in restaurant, police said.
Kristina Krage, 24, of Modesto, faces six arson-related preliminary charges for the fires she allegedly set, the Modesto Police Department said in a Tuesday release.
The fires began just after midnight Monday.
A Modesto Fire Department crew first responded to a trash fire on the 1100 block of H Street, according to a battalion chief incident summary. Other crews were dispatched to fire behind Janet’s Flowers & Wedding Chapel on 14th Street.
The battalion chief dispatched to the scene found four dumpster fires in a two-block radius.
Crews focused on responding to the fire at the A&W storage building and were able to put it out with “limited extension into the building.”
In addition to the multiple Modesto fire crews, a Ceres Fire Department engine crew was also called to help with firefighting efforts.
The Stanislaus Regional Fire Investigation Unit and MPD investigated the incident.
Krage was arrested in October 2020 in connection with smashing windows downtown, an MPD release from the time said. Court records show she served 44 days in jail earlier this year after pleading guilty to felony vandalism charges.
