LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — A Lancaster County man is facing arson and reckless endangerment charges after police say he tried to barricade three people in the basement of a residence he owned after lighting the basement stairs on fire.
Norman Sawyer, 56, was charged after the incident, which occurred shortly before 4 p.m. on the 1700 block of Ridgeview Avenue in East Hempfield Township, police say.
According to police, officers responding to a disturbance call at 3:58 p.m. found Sawyer being held down by another man in the driveway of the residence. The man holding Sawyer down was a tenant at the address, police say.
After speaking to the man and two other residents, police determined that Sawyer had intentionally poured a flammable liquid on a stairwell leading to the residence's basement and lit it on fire while three tenants were inside.
He then tried to barricade the door at the top of the stairwell so that the tenants could not exit the building, police say.
The tenants were able to extinguish the fire and exit the basemen to safety, according to police.
Physical evidence at the scene was consistent with a fire having been set in the basement stairwell, police say.
Members of the Rohrerstown Fire Company responded to the scene, finished extinguishing the fire, and ventilated the residence, according to police.
Criminal charges were filed against Sawyer.
