Salt Lake City tenant faces charges for setting fire to house he was renting

  • Source: KJZZ-TV
  • Published: 11/06/2018 02:58 AM

A man who was injured in a house fire last month now faces a charge of felony aggravated arson after investigators determined he set the fire intentionally. Fire crews first began to suspect Joseph Smith, 56, had something to do with the fire when he was in the hospital and smelled of gasoline, according to court documents filed Monday. When an arson investigator collected his clothes at the hospital, police say Smith admitted to pouring gasoline in a bedroom of a home he rented at 321 West 400 North in Salt Lake City on October 20. “Smith used a match to ignite the gas vapors with a match. There was extensive fire and smoke to the interior of the home such that it is no longer habitable,” an arson investigator wrote in a probable cause statement. Firefighters found Smith on the front lawn of the home suffering from serious burns. A warrant for Smith’s arrest was issued Monday.



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