DUI keeps Kandie Allen in jail on fire conviction

Kandie Allen, 37, will serve the remainder of her jail time on convictions on Arson Two and Assault Four, stemming from setting fire to an apartment building at East Third Avenue and Moore Street in September 2014.
A large portion of the building was destroyed. Prosecutors charged Allen on eight criminal counts centering on the fire, including Arson One, Danger of Serious Injury, a Class A Felony.
On April 3, 2015, Allen pleaded guilty to reduced charges on assault (causing fear of injury) and arson, with intent to damage the building. The prosecution dropped additional charges of arson and assault.
Judge Tim Dooley handed down a sentence of two years with one suspended for the arson conviction and one year for the fear assault considering the effect on the Dixon family and their children, with probation supervision for five years, with broad and stiff conditions.
Allen was out on probation with a list of rules to follow, including no alcohol, when she drove drunk on Dec. 14 last year.
As a result of her DUI conviction, the court reopened the 2014 fire case with a PTRP—Petition to Revoke Probation filed in state Second District Court.
Allen has been in custody since her DUI arrest in December. On July 27, Judge Romano D. DiBenedetto ordered Allen’s probation cancelled. Allen must serve the remaining 300 plus days of her sentence.
Allen set a fire in her apartment, by her admission, according to court proceedings, in the eight-plex Umiaq Apartments building around suppertime Sept. 25, 2014.
The fire caused over $500,000 in damage to the eight-plex. Young children were in the building when the fire spread quickly through the southwest section. About 20 people had to find lodging elsewhere. There were no injuries, except that Allen and another occupant went to the hospital Emergency Room for smoke inhalation, according to a state fire marshal report.
Preston and Sophia Dixon lived in the building with three small children. The family was in their second floor apartment when the fire went up the wall from a dresser where it started in Allen’s apartment on the bottom floor, according to the state’s investigation.
In January 2016, Sophia Dixon filed a civil suit against Bering Straits Native Corp. and Bering Straits Development Corp for personal injury and property damages on behalf of her family.
Preston Dixon was at home with a roommate and his three small children when the fire whooshed through his apartment directly above the conflagration in Allen’s apartment. The Dixons evacuated the apartment immediately and lost all their belongings. The children’s puppy perished in the fire.
The case was settled in April this year on undisclosed terms, prior to a jury trial set in August.