Video shows man setting fire to LGBT youth center
PHOENIX — A recent fire at an LGBT youth center in Phoenix is being investigated as arson after video evidence showed a man pouring liquid on the floor and stepping outside just before a room went up in flames, the Phoenix Fire Department announced Wednesday.
Fire broke out at the one.n.ten youth center July 12. No one was injured.
Officials are asking for the public's help to find the suspect, Darren William Beach Jr., 26.
One.n.ten Executive Director Linda Elliott said her reaction to the video was "shock."
"I mean, it's one thing to have a fire, but it’s a lot more traumatizing to have an arson," she said.
Elliott said that Beach was a participant in one.n.ten programs but aged out of eligibility when he turned 25. One.n.ten serves lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth ages 14 to 24.
Investigators initially said the elevated building probably caught fire because of "spontaneous combustion."
The group reopened and began providing programs and services the day after the fire in a temporary facility.
Elliott said the group has no plans to return to the damaged building.
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"The sort of good news here is we had already started the build-out for our new youth center back in early June and that will be completed in early September" at the Parsons Center, Elliott said.
The center lost electronic equipment, food, hygiene and personal products, and camping equipment in the fire, and officials are waiting to find out what expenses insurance will cover.
"It's just been an incredible response from the community. From the next day until today, people have just been streaming in here, making donations, bringing supplies, buying things," Elliott said.
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