The Queen of Her Own Little World

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Charlie Smith was known to a lot of folks in the community as a sort of bashful, shy screw up who ran a body shop and did good work for fair prices on your car. He had struggled with a drug problem. But he seemed to want to do well. And people kind of liked Charlie. People kind of liked how self-effacing he was and how honest he was about his own mistake.

On November 12th, 2012, the Accomack County volunteer fire departments got a call. An abandoned house had suddenly gone up in flames. And then, just hours later, a second fire was reported. Then a third. Over the next few months, there would be a lot more fires—nearly 90 in all. It was all anyone could talk about in Accomack. Someone was burning down the entire county.

Monica Hesse's book is American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land.

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