ALFRED — A 56-year-old Acton man was arrested Thursday by State Fire Marshal’s Office investigators in connection with six fires set within a span of a few hours one night last month.
Maine Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland said two investigators took John Hogan III into custody upon his release from Spring Harbor Hospital at noon Thursday. Originally treated at Maine Medical Center in Portland, he has been hospitalized since the April 27 fires.
Two houses were destroyed, another sustained light damage, and a shed, boat and car were burned. About 80 firefighters from Acton and nine surrounding departments helped fight the fires, which were all within a two-mile radius of the H Road and the narrow dirt roadways that snake around Great East Lake.
Hogan had been staying with his son on the H Road, and one of the fires he is charged with setting was a shed on his son’s property, said Sgt. Joel Davis of the Fire Marshal’s Office.
Davis said the agency had arrest warrants for Hogan for a couple of weeks but had been waiting for him to be released from hospital before taking him into custody.
Five investigators and a sergeant from the fire marshal’s office were dispatched to Acton the night the fires took place.
Ken and Cathie Bridwell, who live in New Jersey, told the Journal Tribune they had driven to Maine to open their cottage on Great East Lake the day the fires took place. They were awakened about 11:15 p.m. that night when their dog, Deezle, began barking.
Cathie Bridwell said her husband saw a man walking on their deck and then down the stairs, who then ducked under the dock that had been raised up out of the lake for the winter. She said her husband called 911, and it wasn’t long before authorities came to investigate.
“There were flame marks on our shingles,” said Bridwell, from where a cigarette lighter had apparently been used to try and start a fire.
Hogan remained incarcerated at York County Jail this morning and is held in lieu of $50,000 cash bail, a jail booking officer said.
McCausland, the public safety department spokesman, said Hogan could make a court appearance as soon as today.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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