After being paroled a year ago, both [Tina Zmaeff] and [Mary Braun] were back in jail for setting a fire last August in the Doukhobor Heritage Centre in Grand Forks. In 1985, they were sentenced to eight years for another arson of a house in Gilpin, near Grand Forks.

The National Parole Board's appeal division has denied an appeal for parole of a Freedomite Doukhobor woman serving an eight-year sentence for arson.

Corrections Canada spokesman Dianne Brown said Tuesday that Tina Zmaeff, 62, acknowledged the decision and has been informed that she can reapply for parole.

Zmaeff is the only Freedomite still fully incarcerated after her companion, Mary Braun, got day parole in April and returned to the Kootenays where she has been staying in a half-way house.

After being paroled a year ago, both Zmaeff and Braun were back in jail for setting a fire last August in the Doukhobor Heritage Centre in Grand Forks. In 1985, they were sentenced to eight years for another arson of a house in Gilpin, near Grand Forks.

Sons of Freedom Doukhobors, who now number about 50 in B.C., consider fire to be a spiritual cleanser.