The remaining rubble from a structure fire that overtook a mobile home at 1248 Middle Road in Dresden in the early morning hours of Sunday, April 14. The Office of the Maine State Fire Marshal is investigating this fire, as well as a fire in Woolwich, as arson. (Piper Pavelich photo)
Four individuals have been charged with two counts of arson each following multiple fires in Dresden and Woolwich in the early morning hours of Sunday, April 14.
The Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office arrested Savannah Breton, 18, of Woolwich; Patrick Kane, 19, of Topsham; and Robert Matthews, 36, of Lisbon. They have each been charged with two counts of arson. Additionally, a juvenile from Lisbon was charged with two counts of arson.
At approximately 1:22 a.m. the morning of Sunday, April 14, Woolwich firefighters were called to a structure fire at a vacant building located at 506 Old Stage Road.
Minutes later, over the town line in Dresden, the Lincoln County Communications Center paged Dresden firefighters to respond to a structure fire at a vacant mobile home at 1248 Middle Road at approximately 1:37 a.m.
According to Dresden Fire Chief Larry Call, firefighters were at the scene for nearly three hours.
The Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office investigated the fires in the early morning hours of April until a third fire was called in to the Lincoln County Communications Center. Dresden firefighters were paged for a trailer on fire at 1161 Middle Road at approximately 7:36 a.m. Mutual aid members were called once again to assist in extinguishing the flames.
According to Call, firefighters were at the scene at 1161 Middle Road for approximately two hours.
Call declined to comment any further on the matter, deferring comment to the Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office.
First responders from Pittston, Richmond, West Bath, Wiscasset and Woolwich were among those who provided mutual aid to the scenes in Dresden.
While the mobile home at 1161 Middle Road was not currently occupied, Austin Koehling and Cassandra Pelton, of Richmond, were working on renovating the space, according to a Facebook post published by Koehling’s mother and Dresden resident Amy Peaslee, on Sunday, April 14. The pair and their two children were set to move in to the home in a few weeks.
“To say the least, they are heartbroken and devastated. The home had already had about $5,000 into it. Since the home was an older trailer, there was not any insurance on it,” said Peaslee on the GoFundMe page she created on behalf of Koehling and Pelton to help the pair rebuild their first home.
To donate to Peaslee’s GoFundMe page, go to shorturl.at/dnpU9.
Breton, Kane, and Matthews were transported to Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset Sunday morning.
Bail for Breton and Kane was set at $20,000 cash, according to a press release authored by Maine Department of Public Safety Public Information Officer Shannon Moss. Matthews is being held on no bail set, as he was out on three sets of unrelated bail.
The juvenile who was charged was conditionally released to a guardian.
The Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office will continue to investigate the fires, and more charges may be forthcoming, according to Moss.
