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<p>KINGSTON &#8212; A 69-year-old Kingston woman who went missing Tuesday after a fire gutted her home has been charged with starting the blaze herself.</p><p>Kingston police filed a criminal complaint Thursday charging Helen Sterner with first- and second-degree felony counts of arson, third-degree felony counts of reckless burning and criminal mischief and a first-degree misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals.</p><p>The charges against Sterner follow confirmation by Kingston fire Chief Frank Guido Wednesday evening that local and state fire investigators had ruled the fire that consumed her home at 549 N. Gates Ave. Tuesday to be an act of arson.</p><p>According to the complaint, the animal-cruelty charge stems from investigators&#8217; belief that Sterner locked her dog in its cage before starting the fire, leading to the animal&#8217;s death.</p><p>Sterner was first reported missing after firefighters responded around 2:38 p.m. to a report of a fire at the residence. A witness reported seeing her standing on the porch of the burning home with soot on her face shortly before firefighters arrived on scene.</p><p>The complaint said police found Sterner around 7 a.m. Wednesday wandering on East Dorrance Street near Hamilton Avenue, barefoot and wrapped in a blanket, with soot on her arms and face and the front of her hair singed.</p><p>According to the complaint, state police Fire Marshal Ronald Jarocha later determined that an &#8220;ignitable liquid&#8221; had been poured and set alight in both the basement and the dining room area of Sterner&#8217;s home. A Scranton police dog, trained to detect the presence of accelerants, also detected a flammable liquid on Sterner&#8217;s shirt, the complaint said.</p><p>The complaint said that when Sterner was found, she told investigators that she was in the basement at the time the fire began and saw flames in the dining room when she came upstairs. She allegedly told police that she got scared and fled, later spending the night in a wooded area along Church Street.</p><p>Jarocha later told his fellow investigators that he believed accelerant burning on the stairs would have made it impossible for Sterner to come upstairs without being burned, the complaint said.</p><p>The complaint doesn&#8217;t specify an alleged motive for the crime.</p><p>District Judge David Barilla said that Sterner had not yet been arraigned as of 2 p.m. Thursday.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Helen Sterner </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Stern12.jpeg</photo0><caption0>Helen Sterner </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Helen Sterner, 69, charged with arson</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Thomas Moriarty and Travis Kellar</p><p>tmoriarty@www.timesleader.com, tkellar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach reporter Travis Kellar at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter at @TLNews. Investigations editor Thomas Moriarty can be reached at 570-991-6113 or by email at tmoriarty@www.timesleader.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Kingston woman charged with setting fire to her own home after accelerants detected at scene