Eight-year prison sentence handed to Wellsville woman for North Broad Street arson

A Wellsville woman is headed to state prison for setting a fire that wrecked an apartment house in the village last year.

Jessica L. Morrison was sentenced to eight years in connection to a May 2023 blaze that ripped through a four-unit, two story building at 46 N. Broad St. in Wellsville.

At a sentencing hearing Thursday, Allegany County Court Judge Thomas Brown also ordered five years post-release supervision.

Morrison, 32, pleaded guilty April 24, 2024, to second-degree arson for the fire, and she had faced a maximum of 25 years in prison on the B felony conviction.

In addition to arson, Morrison was also originally charged with first-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree criminal mischief.

Investigators said the fire was set in a second-floor stairwell in the middle of the night on May 2, 2023.

The blaze took more than two hours to bring under control. Officials said six or seven people lived in the building at the time of the fire, although there were no injuries. Some pets were treated.

Fire damage resulted in the building being a total loss and it has since been demolished.

The case was prosecuted by Allegany County District Attorney Ian M. Jones. Jennifer Galvan represented Morrison.

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