A Pottsville man was jailed Wednesday afternoon after police say he admitted to starting a fire that damaged a home on W. Norwegian St. overnight.
Travis Thompson, 31, was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge James Reiley and is now being held on $75,000 bail at Schuylkill County Prison. He’s been charged with first-degree felony counts of arson of an inhabited building, aggravated arson for a person present inside the property, a second-degree felony count of arson endangering property, a third-degree felony for criminal mischief, and misdemeanor counts of failure to control, and reckless endangerment.
Shortly after 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Pottsville Fire Dept. personnel were dispatched to 720 W. Norwegian St. for a reported structure fire. At the scene, firefighters reported flames coming from a second-story window at the front of the house.
The fire was deemed under control about a half-hour later and was mostly limited to what was a bedroom in the house. However, the entire home suffered water and smoke damage. A neighboring property also sustained smoke damage.
State Police Fire Marshal Joe Hall conducted an investigation and determined the blaze was intentionally set inside a closet in the bedroom.
Police say Thompson has been a suspect in multiple fires at that same address in the past and later Wednesday, voluntarily came to City Hall for an interview regarding the incident overnight. After initially denying his involvement in the fire, Thompson allegedly admitted to starting it by lighting items – mostly clothing – on fire with a lighter.
Thompson, police say, said during his interview that he woke up early Wednesday and had hallucinations of a dark figure with red eyes in a bedroom mirror. The figure told him to “end it all” and that’s when he decided to start the fire. He then admitted to getting scared and left the bedroom.
Police say as he exited the bedroom, he passed by his mother, who lives in the house with him. Thompson’s step-father then tried putting the flames out with a fire extinguisher after their flickering under the bedroom door was noticed and until the fire department arrived at the scene. Thompson also lives at that address with his girlfriend, he said.
At his arraignment, Thompson told Reiley that he suffers from schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I’ve never been in trouble with the law until now, your honor,” Thompson told the judge.
Reiley asked Thompson, “Do you have any idea how serious these charges are,” to which he replied he did understand.
Pottsville Police Det. Joseph Krammes asked that Reiley, when setting bail, consider how much he believes Thompson is a threat to the safety of the city. He said during his interview that Thompson said he lived at addresses in Palmyra and Port Carbon where fires have occurred and they remain unsolved. Thompson also allegedly admitted during his interview that he intentionally started a fire while living in Arizona that killed a cat.
“I don’t know that he can control his willingness to not start a fire,” Krammes told Reiley.
Thompson is due back before Reiley on Monday for a preliminary hearing.
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