ROCKLAND, Maine — A Rockland woman has been charged with setting a fire that heavily damaged her home last month.
Elizabeth M. Cole, 54, is charged with two counts of arson for the Aug. 31 fire that damaged the 29 James St. house owned by her and her ex-husband, Herbert Cole. One count relates to setting the fire and damaging the house and the other alleges the fire endangered people.
Judge Susan Sparaco set bail at $5,000 cash when she signed the arrest warrant for Cole on Monday. Cole is prohibited from possessing any incendiary devices, according to the terms of bail.
Investigator Mary MacMaster with the state fire marshal’s office has been looking into the cause of the fire since the night it occurred.
When firefighters and police responded to the fire at about 9 p.m. on Aug. 31, Cole was found outside on the back porch and had to be forcibly removed. The affidavit filed in Knox County Unified Court by MacMaster stated that Cole said she wanted to die in the fire.
A lighter was found on the porch with Cole.
Cole told investigator John Wardwell during an interview conducted at Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport, where she was taken the night of the fire, that she had poured gasoline in the living room and set it ablaze with a lighter, according to the affidavit. Cole was emotional and told Wardwell that she had been married in the house and that she was going to die in the house.
Cole and her ex-husband divorced in March, and the decree required the house put up for sale no later than Jan. 21, 2017. Cole had told a neighbor earlier this year that her former husband wanted her to sell the house and she was concerned where she would live. The neighbor said Cole stated this was a “forever home” and she would not leave but die in it.
Cole told that neighbor on the evening of the fire after she was removed from the porch that she was “so sorry.”
The affidavit stated that Cole had been drinking heavily the evening before the fire.
The home has been owned by the Coles since 1991. The two-story house is assessed at $103,800.
The house was heavily damaged, but Fire Chief Christopher Whytock said last month that the fire damage was largely contained to the downstairs living room. There also was some smoke and water damage.
Whytock said firefighters from additional departments initially were called in because crews were concerned there might be others in the house. Firefighters soon determined that was not the case, however, and they quickly put out the fire.