A West Virginia man has been charged with arson after he allegedly set his house on fire because he was upset that a puppy had pooped “all over the house.”
The West Virginia State Fire Marshal’s Office said that the homeowner, 32-year-old Randy Nethken, told responding firefighters that the fire “originated in the attic” of his Mabie home earlier this month, WBOY reported.
Fire marshals — who were alerted to the fire by email — arrived at the scene and found “what appeared to be burned drawers … toward the rear of the involved structure.”
Investigators found what they called “multiple separate and distinct non-communicating fires involving the drawers,” with burn patterns that indicated they were started from separate sources.
The Investigators found “at least three additional separate and distinct non-communication fires in the bathroom vanity” and finally three more “separate and distinct non-communicating fires” just inside the attic entrance.
Nethken then admitted setting three fires in the attic and “that he set the fires in the bathroom because he was upset with the puppy for defecating all over the house.”
After setting the fires, he set up a GoFundMe page “to help pay for the damage because they didn’t really have a lot of money.”
Nethken has been jailed on a $20,000 bond. The GoFundMe page is not active.
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[Featured image: Randy Nethken/Randolph County Sheriff’s Office]
