Updated March 9, 2026, 1:19 p.m. ET
- A brother and sister are charged in connection with an arson fire at a Columbus duplex following an eviction.
- A firefighter was injured when a bathtub fell through the ceiling during the blaze.
An eviction from a Columbus duplex sparked a brother and sister’s plan to intentionally set a December fire that left a city firefighter hurt, court records say.
Jessie Bumgardner, 27, and his sister, Trina Bumgardner, 26, both now of Orient, are charged in connection with the Dec. 6 fire, according to Franklin County Municipal Court records.
Court records say the fire was reported around 4:50 a.m. Dec. 6 at a home on the 900 block of Racine Avenue in the Brookshire neighborhood in the Hilltop area.
The blaze resulted in a Columbus firefighter being pinned to the floor after a bathtub fell through a second story ceiling, court records state. Firefighters were able to pull the tub off their colleague and the firefighter’s injuries were not serious.
A neighboring home’s surveillance cameras caught a Mercury Grand Marquis getting to the house around 4:25 a.m., a person walking inside the house with a gasoline can and then leaving, court records show. Footage from a nearby gas station showed the same car with the passenger filling up the gas can.
Fire investigators identified the passenger as Jessie Bumgardner, court records state. He was arrested in January and has since been indicted by a grand jury on two counts of aggravated arson. Jessie Bumgardner is being held in the Franklin County jail in lieu of a $250,000 bond. His next scheduled court date is March 26 in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.
During the investigation, Trina Bumgardner was interviewed by investigators and said she owned the Mercury seen in the camera footage, court records state. Jessie Bumgardner told investigators that his sister had been driving the car that night, records show.
Camera footage captured someone with a similar body type and build to Trina Bumgardner getting out of the car, court records indicate.
Trina Bumgardner lived at the duplex and got an eviction notice in the weeks before the fire, according to court records. The half of the duplex where the fire was set had significant damage and the other half had minor smoke and fire damage.
Trina Bumgardner is being held in the Franklin County jail on a $500,000 bond on a charge of complicity to commit aggravated arson. A grand jury will review her case for potential indictment in the coming days.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.