Woman caught on camera carrying gas can near suspected arson

MANCHESTER, N.H. — New Hampshire authorities are trying to identify a woman seen carrying a gasoline can near the scene of a suspected arson fire.

Lazaro Sanchez and his family are now homeless after a morning fire in Manchester. At about 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sanchez and his family smelled gasoline outside. When he looked, his front porch and front door were engulfed in flames.

Sanchez even used ice to try to put the fire out himself.

"I put the snow on top of the fire, it went down a little bit," he said.

Manchester investigators think the fire was intentionally set and one woman may have seen the whole thing.

"I see a girl coming, she has the gas," said Sandra Escobar.

Escobar recorded an image, which Manchester Police have now released, showing a woman walking toward the Silver Street home with a gas can.

Sandra was parked outside and recorded it on her dashcam. She said it looked like the woman burned herself after setting the fire.

"She put the gas in the door when she goes running, she has a fire on the hand. She put the hand in the ice," said Escobar.

The fire has left at least two families homeless at a time when temperatures are plunging, but no one was hurt.

A neighbor said he believed he saw the woman pass right by him, and was left trying to wrap his mind around what happened moments after the alleged act.

"She had that big hood on, I saw her walk through," John Fosher said. "Sick people, it hurts."

Fosher told Boston 25 News he's now haunted by his glimpse of her making a getaway from his neighboring porch.

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"She just hustled on by, I thought she ran out of gas," Fosher said.

Minutes later, he saw the smoke coming from next door.

"I woke my wife up, 'Get your clothes on,'" Fosher said. "These fires can shoot in every damn direction."

Police tell Boston 25 News the woman pictured is a person of interest and they are trying to identify her. If you have any information, you're asked to call Manchester Police at (603)624-4040.

Cox Media Group