Tenant Charged With Oxford Apartment Complex Fire

The Maine State Fire Marshal's Office charged an Oxford man with arson for allegedly setting fire to a newspaper in a hallway in the apartment complex he lives in.

Timothy Williams Jr., 29, was arrested Thursday evening after a fire was reported early Tuesday morning at the Oxford Meadow Apartments, Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said Friday.

The fire was located in the doorway of an elderly resident's apartment. Investigators said the woman went to the door after hearing the fire alarm but couldn't exit the apartment because of the flames. The woman doused the fire with water and then escaped uninjured.

Williams lived across the hall from where the fire was set. He started the blaze because he was upset with another tenant, McCausland said.

It was the second serious fire at the apartment complex in the last year. An elderly resident died in May after an electrical issue caused a fire in a common area.