An affidavit filed by a state fire marshal at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta on Monday requests that a resident of a residential care facility who has been accused of arson have limited access to incendiary devices.
Matthew Perkins, 29, of Waterville has been charged with arson in fires that staff at Motivation Services discovered.
On March 4, Kenneth MacMaster, of the Office of Maine State Fire Marshal was called to 73 Pleasant St., which is owned by Motivation Services, to look into the fires. The facility houses six clients with mental health issues and is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In the affidavit, MacMaster said that staff members were able to link one of their clients, Perkins, to a stairwell fire between the first and second levels as well as fire damage to a window sill in his room. The officer also identified bedding that was burned with what is likely a cigarette.
According to Motivational Services Program Manager Brandon Tenan in the affidavit, Perkins is his own guardian and as such is allowed to come from and go into the facility as he wishes and to possess lighters and other devices to smoke cigarettes.
After Perkins underwent a mental health examination March 5 at MaineGeneral Medical Center-Thayer, he was cleared to return to the facility as his own guardian, according to a statement included in the affidavit from Tenan. Tenan said that because of rules in effect governing Perkins, he cannot be banned from possessing lighters or leaving the facility unless Perkins agrees to the restrictions.
In the affidavit MacMaster notes that Perkins’ fire behavior poses a significant risk to the building he lives in and endangers the other clients and staff at Motivational Services and requests that a condition of his release be that Perkins not have incendiary devices “inclusive but limited to lighters and matches.”
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