Man Charged With Setting Own House Afire

A 36-year-old Eagle man has been charged with firstdegree arson in connection with a fire last week that gutted his home east of Prichard.

Melvin Harbison Jr., set the house on fire Friday after fighting with his wife, according to a press release from the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Department. Harbison, his wife and an infant daughter were not in the house when the fire broke out.

Deputies stopped Harbison shortly before 7 a.m. Friday for questioning. They found drug paraphernalia and what appeared to be methamphetamine in his vehicle, said Shoshone County Deputy Mitch Alexander. Harbison was charged with possession of drugs and driving with an expired license.

The arson charge was filed after officials from Shoshone County Fire District 2 and the State Fire Marshal’s Office examined what was left of the house, which had burned beyond repair.

“Evidence, witness statements and statements from the suspect all support the idea that it was arson,” Alexander said. Harbison and his wife had been fighting before the fire broke out, he said.