Resident’s arson damaged 28 condo units, police say

A custody dispute with his fiancée led a man to start a blaze that killed three cats and caused nearly $4 million in damage to 28 condo units, including his own, police say.

Nathan Counts, 39, started the noon-hour fire Feb. 12 at the Ramblewood East Condominium subdivision in Coral Springs, according to a Coral Springs police arrest report. He used a gas can he bought and filled that morning, poured the gas on a love seat and mattress in his condo, and lit it with a cigarette lighter, police said.

Counts is charged with 59 counts that include arson, felony cruelty to animals and criminal mischief. He was arrested Tuesday, records show.

After evacuating dozens of people from two buildings that afternoon, rescuers said the fire appeared to have started on the second floor and spread quickly through the attic to other units.

In the condominium unit that Counts shared with his fiancée,, the mother of their child, investigators didn’t have to look far before finding evidence to suggest the fire was set on purpose.

“A five-gallon gas can was found in the living room. Also, a cigarette lighter was located in the living said.

An investigator determined that the fire pattern indicated the fire originated from at least two spots — the living room and the bedroom — the report said.

The blaze caught other residents of the condos by surprise. On the day of the fire, Sheila Mardy told reporters she room,” the arrest report