Rachel Price says a fire marshal living below her apartment helped stop the flames after she was set on fire.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — A fire marshal living below a Hollywood apartment heard screams, smelled smoke and ran upstairs with a fire extinguisher after a woman was burned in what police now describe as a gasoline attack.
That neighbor’s response is one of the clearest outside actions described in the case against Kymesha Tarpley, 48. Tarpley is accused of setting Rachel Price on fire after an argument inside the apartment they shared. Price survived but said she suffered second- and third-degree burns to her face and other parts of her body. Court records list charges of attempted second-degree murder with a weapon, first-degree arson and second-degree arson.
Price has said she wants to thank the neighbor who came upstairs during the fire. “I hope to run into him soon and thank him for saving my life,” she said. Local reports said the fire marshal lived below Price and Tarpley and responded when he heard Price screaming. His quick action helped interrupt an emergency that began inside one apartment but could have spread through the residential building. Public reports do not name him, and police have not released a full account of what he saw when he reached the door.
The police response began after officers were sent to the apartment building for a reported fire. A probable cause affidavit said an officer arrived at about 10:15 p.m. and spoke with Tarpley at the scene. She told police she had been home with her roommate and former girlfriend when Price became upset about Tarpley’s small dog. Tarpley said the dog was annoying Price in the living room. The women argued, and the dispute moved toward a balcony door, according to Tarpley’s statement in the affidavit.
Tarpley told police the fire started when the balcony door struck a gasoline container, knocked it over and spilled fuel on the floor. She said Price had a lit cigarette and dropped it after jumping back. That cigarette ignited the gasoline, Tarpley said. Price’s account was far different. She told police, “She tossed gasoline on me.” In local interviews, Price said Tarpley had left and returned with a gas canister before tossing the gasoline and throwing a lighter.
The difference between the two accounts is now central to the prosecution. Tarpley’s account describes a sudden accident during a struggle near a door. Price’s account describes an intentional act after a pause in the argument. Price said she did not have time to react when the gasoline and lighter were thrown. She said the flames burned her hair, face, arm and leg. “She watched me burn,” Price said. She said she tried to cover herself with a jacket, but the burns had already happened.
Price was taken to a hospital and intubated, according to the affidavit. Local reports said she spent nearly a month hospitalized. She later described daily pain and said ordinary actions had become difficult. Eating and talking on the phone hurt, she said. She also said she could have been blinded if she had not closed her eyes or lowered her head. The burns left visible and lasting injuries, and Price said the attack changed how she felt in her own body. “I don’t feel like myself,” she said.
The apartment setting adds another layer to the case. Hollywood is a dense Broward County city, and the building was not an isolated structure. Reports placed the confrontation near Emerald Pointe Drive. A fire inside an occupied apartment can threaten people beyond the person first injured, including neighbors, children, older residents and first responders. The records available so far do not describe injuries to anyone else, but the fire marshal’s role shows how quickly the danger reached other residents in the building.
The legal file has grown since the first court appearance. Early reports said Tarpley appeared before a judge on arson and aggravated battery charges after police said gasoline was thrown at another person during an argument. Later reports said the case was upgraded when Price went to police to finish pressing charges. Tarpley now faces attempted murder in addition to arson counts. She has pleaded not guilty. Local reports said she was held at the Paul Rein Detention Facility without bond after the charges were upgraded.
Police and prosecutors have not released every detail that could later be tested in court. They have not publicly explained whether investigators found the gas canister, whether the lighter was recovered, whether fingerprints or burn patterns were analyzed or whether the neighbor’s observations were recorded in a separate statement. Those details could become important if prosecutors use the physical scene to support Price’s account or if the defense argues the ignition happened the way Tarpley described it.
Price has said she remains focused on healing and finding another place to live. A fundraiser was created to support her after the fire. She described being grateful for each day and said she never imagined the person accused in the case would do something so violent. Still, her public comments about Tarpley were not framed as revenge. Price said she hoped Tarpley would get help. The statement came even as Price described the pain of burns that could shape the rest of her recovery.
The June 18 calendar call is the next listed step in the Broward County case. Tarpley remains presumed innocent unless convicted, and the case will depend on witness statements, the fire scene, medical evidence and the sharp divide between an accident claim and Price’s account of being set on fire.
Author note: Last updated May 7, 2026.