Twin sisters rescued from Miami house fire

Man arrested Friday morning on arson, attempted murder charges

MIAMI – Twin sisters were rescued from a Miami house fire Thursday night, and now their uncle is facing attempted murder charges and one count of first-degree arson.

Bernard Ethridge, 30, was arrested early Friday morning. The sisters' mother, Felicia Ethridge, 27, was arrested on two counts of child neglect.

The fire started just after 9 p.m. on Northwest 49th Street.

Neighbors told Local 10 News they heard the girls screaming for help and banging on the windows before firefighters arrived.

Brooke and Kourtney Etheridge, 4, were rescued and taken to the burn unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center.

Felicia Ethridge, the girls' grandmother, said the fire started in her son's bedroom.

"The fire chief said that he put some gasoline in there and the fire started from his room, so he was setting his room on fire," Felicia Ethridge said.

According to an arrest report, neighbors saw Bernard spray-painting an expletive on the sidewalk while the house was burning.

Neighbors asked him if he knew his house was on fire, to which he replied, "Yes," the report states.

Neighbors said they asked him why his home was on fire, and he said because "I'm sick of this (expletive)."

Ethridge said the girls are expected to survive. She's just thankful it wasn't worse.

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About the Authors:

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.