2 Provo women suspected in as many as 20 Utah County fires

PROVO — Officers have arrested a second woman in connection with a string of arsons throughout Utah County.

While investigators say it's unusual to have women as suspects in a string of arsons, they are confident they have the right people in custody. The two Provo women are friends and have been for some time, police say.

The first arrest came Tuesday when Alexandra Howell, 23, was booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of 12 counts of arson. Ashley Hair, 23, was booked into jail later Tuesday for investigation of the same crimes.

Investigators believe both women were always together when the blazes were started. Most of the fires were set in Provo, Springville, Mapleton and west of Utah Lake.

Their arrests come as a relief to firefighters, who for years have suspected a serial arsonist was on the loose.

Officers believe the women may have been involved in as many as 20 fires. The latest fire occurred July 20 on Provo's east bench, where several blazes were started in a matter of minutes and potentially put homes in danger.

One tip police received from that incident was of a dark SUV seen near the area of the fire at the time. This tip helped put detectives on the trail of Howell and Hair.

"A tip came into the Provo fire chief and then detectives were able to run with that information," said Utah County Sheriff's Lt. Mike Brower. "There were witnesses that saw the vehicle, and we do have other individuals who came forward with some information."

Several of the other blazes burned on forest land, bringing the U.S. Forest Service into the arson investigations, along with fire crews from Provo, Utah County and Springville.

Investigators say they are unsure why the fires were set.

"As near as we can tell, there was some fascination with lighting the fires, and then that motive seemed to have changed some," said Springville Police Lt. Dave Caron. "It wasn't necessarily a motive to go out and harm somebody, as near as we can tell."