Man arrested for setting fire to Dallas' historic Filter Building

A man is facing arson charges after first responders say he intentionally set fire to a historic Dallas building on Thursday afternoon. 

Dallas Fire-Rescue said they were dispatched to the Filter Building on White Rock Road at 1:48 p.m. on Thursday.

Firefighters quickly extinguished a small fire on the second floor and said witnesses told them they saw a shirtless man on the roof of the building when the fire began.

DFR said investigators interviewed the man, 24-year-old Nsengiyumva Ngabonziza of Rwanda, who admitted to starting the fire.

DFR said according to reports, Ngabonziza scaled the side of the building and got inside through a roof access panel. Then, he used matches to set fire to several flammable items inside a second-floor office.

Investigators said the resulting smoke forced Ngabonziza back to the roof, where DFR found him.

DFR said Ngabonziza was arrested and charged with arson.

"You just never think that this would happen to you, to your house or to a facility that you work at," said Kevin Jones, White Rock Boathouse program director.

Jones said their nonprofit, White Rock Rowing, operates the city-owned building, of which part of the second floor is now charred.

He said while they're still working to assess the damage, the nearly century-old building will be expensive to repair, not to mention the damaged or destroyed equipment.

"This isn't something where we're just gonna sweep up the floors and get back to business," Jones said. "I mean, the fire department had to cut the roof out of the building; they had to break windows."

Jones said that on any given day, around 300 people could be in their building for rowing programs, but luckily, no one was inside at the time of the fire.

"We're so lucky that no one was in the building that no one was hurt. Everything that was damaged is replaceable," he said.

But Jones said they now face a funding challenge. The Filter Building is also a banquet hall, hosting weddings and other events. Revenue from those events helps fund their nonprofit, allowing them to buy rowing equipment and even offer scholarships for young athletes to get into rowing.

He said he expected events to be paused at the building for at least a week and hopes they can get everything repaired and cleaned up before their peak event season ends.

"You know, [a] once in a lifetime thing can happen and it just happened to us," Jones said.

Those who want to support the nonprofit while they pause operations can do so here.