Chesco woman accused of setting house on fire ordered to stand trial on arson charges

CHESTER COUNTY, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — The 42-year-old woman accused of setting her $1.5 million Berwyn home on fire is ordered to stand trial on felony charges.

Kathryn Frankel is charged with arson in her home located on the corner of Leopard and Sugartown roads.

According to testimony at her preliminary hearing, Frankel met her husband and an insurance adjuster at the home around 9 a.m. on July 23. The adjuster and her husband were gone by about 9:30 a.m.

Frankel called 911 to report the fire around 10:45 a.m. It was the second fire at the home in three months.

An Easttown Township detective testified that when he talked to Frankel while she sat in an ambulance outside the home, her hair was singed and she was covered in soot.

An assistant fire marshal testified there were gasoline containers and tiki torch fuel right inside the opened garage door of the home, and lab results confirmed two areas with accelerant in the family room.

Frankel says she was outside when she heard a bang inside the house, and that’s when she saw the flames.

Frankel’s lawyer argued prosecutors failed to conclusively link Frankel to the fire. But prosecutors argued Frankel was the only one in the home at the time, had access to accelerants, and lab tests show accelerants were present in the room where the fire’s believed to have started.

Frankel’s formal arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 14 in West Chester.