Decatur Man Sets Fire At Home, Threatens Firefighter

DECATUR, IL — Police said a Decatur man set his trailer on fire Saturday night and threatened responders when they arrived to the scene. WAND reported that according to a sworn police statement, Andrew Wilson, 24, is accused of setting the fire at 8:15 p.m. in his home office in the 2000 block of Hedrick Court.

WAND reported that according to a sworn statement issued Monday, a battalion chief said Wilson approached him in the trailer and the firefighter asked Wilson to leave. Crews say Wilson reacted by picking up a glass jar filled with plastic straws and told the chief he would “bash this over your head” if he didn’t leave in five seconds.

Woman Jumps Out Of Window To Escape Decatur House Fire

According to a news report by Herald and Review, officers say firefighters told them the man confessed to starting the fire in an attempt to kill himself after a phone call argument with his boyfriend. Herald and Review added that Fire Inspector Mike Wigginton told police it appeared that a burning notebook had been held against the power cord of a power strip under a desk “in order to give the appearance of an electrical fire.”

The man was taken to the Macon County Jail, booked on preliminary charges of aggravated arson involving an occupied residence and aggravated assault of a fireman, and will be ordered to stay away from Kline if he is able to make his $75,000 bail.

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