Destructive Fire Began With Sex Toys Arson: Officials

What began relatively innocently, if oddly, by setting two rubber sex toys ablaze in a backyard turned into a destructive fire on Staten Island that spread to neighboring houses. The resulting three-alarm blaze engulfed at least two homes and two vehicles on Monday, WNBC reports. No injuries were reported. Court documents show Harry Torres, 37, was arrested once law enforcement officials arrived and firefighters put out the blaze, which they called "a heavy, deep-seeded fire."

The charges against Torres include two counts of arson, reckless endangerment, and criminal mischief. Fire Marshall Joseph Conforti said Torres told him, "I started the fire." The home that sustained the most damage belonging to a woman in her 80s, who was able to get out of it unharmed. Her children later tried to recover what they could from the house, per WABC. "This is the house where we all grew up, and it's pretty much gone," said the woman's daughter. (More Staten Island stories.)