Isabella man arrested for arson while watching fire
LUZERNE TWP. – An Isabella man was arrested Wednesday in connection with a house fire after he allegedly returned to the house to watch firefighters extinguish the fire. Bill Harn, 36, was arrested and charged with arson and related offenses in connection with an 11:29 p.m. fire at 513 Second St., Isabella.
Harn was arraigned before District Justice Herbert Mitchell and placed in Fayette County Prison, but he was released from jail Thursday after posting a percentage of a $50,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled before Mitchell at 9 a.m. Nov. 27
Harn was arrested after a witness pointed him out among a crowd watching the Isabella Volunteer Fire Department douse the fire.
According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by police, a witness told state police that he saw a man with a red gas can in one hand and a can of beer in the other walking from Second Street in Isabella on Wednesday night, about 30 minutes before he noticed the house on fire.
The witness described the man to state police trooper William Large and told him that when he noticed the fire, he saw that same man without the can of gas and beer running toward Third Street. The witness said that when he told the man to stop and that he had called the police, the man ran away and fell, according to police.
The witness later identified Harn as the man he had seen after Harn approached the scene of the fire, police said.
According to the affidavit, the fire was incendiary in nature, and Large recovered a gas can and samples from the structure.
The affidavit also stated that after searching the home of Chantel Angelone, 321 Third St., Isabella, where Harn apparently had been staying, police found a jacket that matched the description given by the witness and a red cooler with the same beer the witness said Harn was carrying. Angelo said that a red gas can with kerosene in it was on her porch, but police did not find it there.
According to Luzerne Township police Lt. Roy Mehalik, a flammable substance was poured on cement steps outside the house. He said quick response from Isabella firefighters stopped the fire from spreading.
Mehalik said police did not know who owned the house and believe it is unoccupied.