BAR HARBOR, Maine — A local man has been charged with arson in connection with a fire that damaged his apartment Wednesday, according to officials.
Jimmy Deiters, 55, was arrested at a motel where he was staying on Thursday, according to Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland.
Deiters was charged with arson and aggravated criminal mischief, and his bail was set at $25,000, according to McCausland. He was expected to be arraigned Friday in Ellsworth.
The fire was contained to Deiters’ first-floor apartment on Highbrook Road, according to McCausland. The building contains 24 other apartments, and nobody was injured.
Investigators determined newspapers were set on fire in the living room, and Deiters was spotted riding away from the building on a bicycle shortly before the fire was discovered, McCausland said.
The building’s sprinkler system contained the blaze before firefighters arrived.
Bar Harbor police and firefighters assisted the state fire marshal’s office.
