A Dauphin County woman is locked up in Schuylkill County Prison for intentionally starting a fire at a treatment center near Mahanoy City.
According to court papers filed by the Pennsylvania State Police at Frackville, on Sunday, April 7th, 2024, around 5:45pm, the Mahanoy City Fire Department was called to the Silver Pine Treatment Center on While Owl Drive in Mahanoy Township near Mahanoy City for fire in a client's room.
The client, Jody Thomas, 51, of Harrisburg, had used a BIC lighter to ignite a book. After igniting the book, she placed the burning book onto a dresser and left the room.
The fire burned the book and damaged the dresser. The facility was evacuated during the incident.
As a result, Thomas was taken into custody on charges of arson involving endangering property, recklessly endangering another person, and criminal mischief involving catastrophe.
Thomas was arraigned by on-call Magisterial District Judge Edward Tarantelli and locked up in Schuylkill County Prison on $75,000 straight cash bail.