MEDWAY, Maine — A local man was charged Thursday with intentionally setting a fire that destroyed an abandoned mobile home on Jones Road earlier this week, officials said Friday.
Barry Markham, 64, of Medway was charged with Class A arson and violation of conditions of release in connection with the fire, which was reported at 43 Jones Road at 11:10 p.m. Saturday. No injuries were reported, Medway Fire Chief Jon Buckingham said.
The fire already had consumed most of the trailer when the first firefighters arrived. Knowing the double-wide mobile home to have been abandoned and without utility service for several years, firefighters called for state fire marshal’s office investigators, Buckingham said.
East Millinocket police Chief Cameron McDunnah, whose department covers Medway, declined to comment Thursday on the evidence that led investigators to charge Markham. Markham was out on bail at the time of the fire but was being held at Penobscot County Jail when police charged him in connection with the fire, McDunnah said.
Markham is a convicted felon who had 11 charges pending against him at the time of his arrest, McDunnah said. The charges include two counts each of operating after suspension, violation of bail conditions, illegal attachment of license plates and criminal threatening, and single charges of possession of marijuana, burglary and refusing to sign uniformed summons or complaint.
The summonses were issued or arrests occurred Aug. 11, 14, 17, and Sept. 1. McDunnah said Markham twice threatened officers with violence that would involve weapons after being pulled over during motor vehicle stops.
The investigation into the Jones Road fire continues. More arrests or charges might occur. Police ask anyone with information about the fire to call police at 746-3555. All calls will be kept confidential.
Markham is being held without bail and is due to appear at Penobscot Judicial Center of Bangor Sept. 9, a jail spokeswoman said.