BATH, Maine — A 13-year-old Bath boy was charged Saturday with arson after Maine State Fire Marshal’s investigators say he started a fire Thursday night that gutted the back of a Pearl Street home.
The boy was arrested by investigators Mary Macmaster and Kenneth Macmaster, who are not related, of the fire marshal’s office, and a Bath Police Department patrol officer, according to Sgt. Joel Davis of the Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office.
He remains at Long Creek Youth Center in South Portland today.
Davis said investigators arrived at the scene Thursday night and were back on Friday, and “connected a bunch of interviews of neighbors and witnesses. After reviewing 911 calls and information, they were [allegedly] able to place the juvenile at the scene. With subsequent interviews with him and others, they felt they had enough to arrest him.”
Davis said he thinks the juvenile acted alone, and used “ordinary combustibles” such as matches or lighters, but did not use accelerants.
He declined to comment on a possible motive, but said such cases “usually fall into several categories: curiosity, excitement or maybe just a way of acting out.”
Bath firefighters arrived just before 8 p.m. Thursday at 69 Pearl St. to find the right rear of the two-story home fully involved, with flames showing on three sides including across the back and up to the second story, Bath Fire Chief Stephen Hinds said at the scene.
Approximately 42 firefighters worked the scene, with Brunswick and West Bath providing mutual aid. The fire was knocked down in about 10 minutes, but destroyed the rear of the building.
The home is owned by Debbie Patterson, who lives there with her 16-year-old son, Nick.
Hinds said the home is uninhabitable due to “a lot of heat and broken glass,” and the rear of the building was “gutted.” However, the front section can be “washed up and painted,” he said.
Arson is a Class A felony when prosecuted in adult courts, Davis said.
A pending date in juvenile court was not available Tuesday afternoon.
Positive thoughts and energy to Deb & Nick!
Was happy to hear there was no loss of life and am sorry for your loss of property in these hard economic times. Fire starting can also often be a manifestation of sexual child abuse, not saying this is what happened, just that it bears looking into. Better to nip this kind of behavior in the bud by finding the root. Or punishment won’t have much meaning to this child.
No-one was hurt. I think sending kids away is a bad, bad idea in most cases. Make him work his little butt off to pay for the damages. Do tons of community service. Whatever. Jail or prison is not often the answer when it comes to younglings. Cant learn to be a productive human while doing time. Its impossible. I have yet to meet anyone who spent time in a “development center” as a child/teenager who has really got much of anything figured out. Time for a re-think of our justice system.
In most cases juvenile
arson is a very different animal from adult arson. Adult arson is most often
profit motivated, and or linked to revenge. Juvenile arson is curiosity, a cry
for help, or done at the behest of adult or adults.
The treatment for this
malady is lots and lots of supervision and interaction with positive role
models. This treatment (when done correctly) has a 97% rate of success judged
by no repeat offenses for 10 years. I kinda doubt that will happen at Long
Creek, but my bet is he won’t be there long.
I strongly agree with
Devildude that it is time for a rethink of our justice system. We need to spend
more time and resources (notice I didn’t say money) on youthful miscreants, and
less money time and resources or adult repeaters, methadone, and able bodied
young adults who currently get checks for doing squat.