ELKTON, Md. — A Maryland woman is facing a host of charges after fire marshals said she set multiple fires inside her occupied Elkton home Thursday and watched it burn from a lawn chair on the front lawn.

Witnesses told The News Journal that they heard a screaming female in the basement of the burning home and helped her to safety.

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Gail Metwally, 47, has been charged with first- and second-degree attempted murder, first-degree arson, first-degree assault, two counts of first-degree malicious burning, two counts of malicious destruction of property and two counts of reckless endangerment, WTTG reported.

“The 911 caller stated that [Metwally] actually went inside the house, set multiple items, multiple fires inside the house. She then exited the house and proceeded to sit on a lawn chair where she actually watched the fire spread throughout the house,” Senior Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver Alkire told WMAR.

The other two residents of the dwelling were not home at the time of the blaze. Metwally had been renting a room in the house with her boyfriend, one of the two residents not home when she allegedly set the fires, the TV station reported.

Metwally, who reportedly walked away from the property after first responders arrived, was found in the area of the home by the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office, detained and transported to the custody of the Maryland State Police, The News Journal reported.

Pat Bernal, who identified herself to WMAR as the sister of the woman who was trapped in the basement, told the TV station that Metwally had recently returned to the home “after being confined elsewhere for mental health issues.” Bernal also said that repeated pleas to authorities to address Metwally’s “ongoing behavioral issues” had been ignored.

Cox Media Group