VASSALBORO — A Riverside Drive man found a transient making a fire in and planning to stay the night in his barn Thursday night, prompting state police to arrest the man and investigate the fire.
Jeremy Burbank, a farmer and electrician, recounted finding a man attempting to stay in his barn, starting a fire using wood and diesel fuel late Thursday night.
“A neighbor called and said he drove by and saw an orange flickering light coming from the barn,” Burbank said Friday afternoon. “I thought I may have left the tractor on and I could see that there was a fire in the barn. I jumped to put it out, but realized that someone had made the fire, it was surrounded by cinder blocks and started with wood.
“I realized someone was in there and I hollered ‘Hey come out! And he did,'” Burbank said. “He was sketchy looking.”
Scott Grandmaison, 25, was charged with arson for starting the fire inside the equipment barn, according to a press release from Maine Department of Public Safety. Grandmaison was picked up by state police on Riverside Drive not too far from the barn, and he was taken to Kennebec County jail by fire marshal investigators, according to the release, and is being held on $1,000 cash bail.
Burbank said he confronted Grandmaison after finding him in the barn. He said Grandmaison asked what he wanted.
“I said ‘This is my barn and you lit a fire,'” Burbank said. “He said ‘You want me to put it out?’ Then he tried to kick it out and quickly walked out of the barn. He knew I was going to call the police.”
Once Grandmaison left, Burbank said the fire started to spark back up again before he could stomp it out. The state fire marshal’s office is investigating the fire, according to Maine State Police Sgt. Blaine Bronson.
Burbank, who owns the farm with his brother-in-law and mother, said he was in the barn two hours earlier working with his equipment. While this was the first fire a vagrant has started in his barn, Burbank said he has seen people use the barn for quick housing before.
“To be honest with you, it has happened,” he said. “We’re about halfway from Augusta to Waterville and Winslow and a lot of people walk there. About two years ago I remember there was this man near our property but on the edge of the road and people had been calling the police about him. He didn’t have anywhere to go, and police asked us if it was OK that he stay the night in our barn. We really didn’t like the idea, so ended up taking him somewhere else.”
Despite the anti-climatic ending to the night, the ordeal spooked Burbank.
“Once I realized what was going on, it was a little scary,” he said. “I mean, he could see me and I couldn’t see him.”
Jesse Scardina — 861-9239
Twitter: @jessescardina
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