BRISTOL TOWNSHIP
A Bristol Township woman is accused of torching a rental property she owned to collect on an insurance policy. February 5, 2002
"I saw a glowing burner," said Bristol Township firefighter Ralph Gumbert. Gumbert testified yesterday during the county court trial of Cynthia Efaw, 46, of Bristol Township. She's accused of setting the fire to collect on an $88,000 insurance policy. She denies any involvement in the fire. Efaw is charged with arson, recklessly endangering another person and insurance fraud. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison. Efaw, a businesswoman who owns several homes throughout Levittown, was arrested in 1997 after a seven-month grand jury investigation into the blaze. The trial was delayed by appeals to the state Superior and Supreme courts. At issue was whether prosecutors could use information collected by Efaw's insurance company against her at trial. The courts ruled that they could. Prosecutors allege that Efaw set the blaze by piling clothes or rags onto a lit electric stove, then leaving the home. In court yesterday, Gumbert and former fire Chief Allen Cirard, of Levittown Fire Co. No. 2, both testified that they found one burner of the stove lit. Both also said the doors of the home were locked with deadbolts, forcing them to kick in the front door to fight the fire. No one was injured. Efaw arrived at the fire scene later that day and talked to police. According to Bristol Township police Officer William O'Keefe, Efaw claimed that she had been threatened by a woman named Paula Carpenter, who had a disagreement with Efaw's daughter. Efaw's daughter was renting the house at the time of the fire. Efaw allegedly said Carpenter warned her that she would burn down her house, saying, "Watch your back." Police said Efaw also told them that a neighbor called her at work to report the fire. The neighbor told Efaw that she saw an unidentified woman run from the home 15 minutes before flames started shooting from the windows. When questioned by police, the neighbor said it was Efaw who fled the home, O'Keefe testified. The officer said other neighbors were reluctant to discuss the fire. One man, who wouldn't tell police his name, said only, "No one got hurt," and refused to answer further questions. Falls Fire Marshal Ed Copper, who in 1995 was Bristol Township's fire marshal, testified that he found evidence of arson at Efaw's home. Efaw waived her right to a jury trial and agreed to have county Judge John Rufe decide the case. Her lawyer, Mel Kardos, declined to discuss his defense strategy. "She's innocent," he said. The trial resumes today
and is expected to last three days. Efaw remains free on bail.
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