LEWISTON — Many of the tenants displaced by Monday’s fire were still busy Thursday trying to find places to live and clothes to wear. There wasn’t a lot of time to react to the news that a child had been arrested.

But when there was time, there was anger and frustration.

“I didn’t know there was an arrest, only heard that a 12-year-old  started it,” said Jessica Marie Foster, one of the tenants left homeless by the fire. “Definitely frustrated me. The many lives this irresponsible child could have taken, the thousands of dollars (in damages) he’s caused. The loss of some pets, furniture, sentimental things we owned.”

She added, “This destroyed me, not because (I lost) the flat-screen TV I owned, or the computer, or even the clothes and shoes I loved, but drawings and cards my husband had done for me. Not the fact I even lost all my hair tools I had. I graduated from cosmetology school and recently received my temporary cosmetology license, allowing me to work in a salon … that will be on hold now, for I have nothing!”

For some, the arrest was not a complete shock.

Abby E. White-Owl, who used to live in the Blake Street building that burned, said young people run wild in the neighborhood at all hours of the day. Her jaw didn’t drop when she heard that a 12-year-old was accused of starting the blaze.

“They run the streets at all hours,” the 41-year-old said, “and there is no supervision. No respect for anyone or anything.”

Some were surprised to hear the cause of the blaze because exotic rumors had floated through the community in the days following the blaze. One rumor was that a methamphetamine lab had exploded.

“I am shocked it would be a 12-year-old boy,” said Blanche Terjelian, a friend of several people who lived in the burned buildings, “when I was informed it was a drug deal gone bad.”

Katie Hunnefield, a single mother of three, is one of those displaced. She said she is both sad and frustrated to learn that a boy so young was able to cause so much chaos.

“I am just sad,” she said. “I feel bad for the choices that he chose to make. I think he is old enough to know right from wrong. And I’m sorry but I also have to wonder about the guidance and discipline he has been brought up with. Children should know that there are consequences for one’s actions.

“My oldest is 7,” said Hunnefiled, 25, “and he knows what lying is. He knows right from wrong. He knows if he does something wrong there will be a consequence.”

The suspect has not been identified because of his age.

When she put her anger and frustration aside, Hunnefield said she hoped the arrest would at least serve as a lesson for the accused boy.

For Terjelian, the more startling part of the news was the question of why a boy so young would start a fire in the first place.

“If this 12-year-old boy did this,” she said, “what was his motive? Really, why would you just happen to choose that building, that floor, to set a fire? Was he told to get back at someone? Was he told to do this by someone else? So many questions on why a kid could and would do this!”

For Foster, the ordeal has meant a complete upheaval.

“I was in the middle of packing to move to Boston to start a new life with my husband and make some positive changes and get away from this place I call hell,” she said. “That too will be put on hold. This little child has taken so much from all of us and I hope he gets the maximum punishment possible!

“I’m trying to stay positive and be thankful that I do, however, have my life and my pets,” Foster said. “My bird, Money, and my cat, Chris, he’s the one they found 6½ hours later. I am doing my best to get him to forget what has happened. He has been traumatized. This was not fair to any of us; some of us have worked hard for what we have.”

It was the second time in five years, Foster said, that she was ousted by a fire just when it looked like she was going to be able to move away.

“This definitely has been a rough time for me,” she said. “I hope everyone recovers and gets back to their lives. I’m doing my best to get through this and move on. With God, I know all is possible.”

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