Isanti family seeks help identifying man who set their home on fire last summer

An Isanti family is seeking the public’s help in figuring out who set fire to their home last summer.

Michelle Webber stepped outside on July 5 and found that the house was on fire.

“The sky was orangish-red. I was like, ‘What is that?’” she said. “There were flames shooting all the way up.”

Her son was asleep on the couch that night — not in his room down the hall.

“He’s severely autistic, and I was having a hard time. I turned and saw flames coming down the hallway — I pretty much dragged him,” Webber said.

The family lost pretty much everything in the fire, including their two cats, according to a GoFundMe.

Security video from that night shows an unidentified man approaching the house and carrying something in his left hand before leaning down and igniting the item.

“And I saw it was set purposefully — I just dropped to my knees. … It was unbelievable,” Webber said.

Taylor Eisenberg, Webber’s sister, says that’s why the family reached out to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS to share the video, which was also shared with police.

“We just hope there’s something that someone might know about this incident because it’s really scary to know we have someone on video of someone setting fire to her home, yet we have no idea who did it,” she said.

The family is touched by the support they’ve received from the community, but they want answers.

“I live in fear all the time. My blinds are never open because I’m always afraid,” Webber said.

If you have information on the arson, you can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.