3 days ago
Trial scheduled for man accused of intentionally setting fire, causing explosion at Jamestown home
May 31—JAMESTOWN — A felony jury trial has been scheduled for a Nancy, Kentucky, man who is accused of intentionally setting a fire in September that extensively damaged his home and adjacent property, according to court documents.
John Patrick Quinlan, 55, faces charges of endangering by fire or explosion, a Class B felony, two counts of endangering by fire or explosion, a Class C felony, and failure to control or report a dangerous fire, a Class A misdemeanor.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges on Feb. 25 in Southeast District Court in Jamestown. A felony jury trial is scheduled for Sept. 30.
A Class B felony is punishable by 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. A Class C felony is punishable by five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by 360 days in prison and a $3,000 fine.
Quinlan is accused of placing other people in danger of death under circumstances manifesting an extreme difference to human life, intentionally starting or maintaining a fire or causing an explosion that placed any part of a building or inhabited structure of another in danger of destruction, intentionally starting or maintaining a fire or causing an explosion that damaged property of another constituting pecuniary loss of more than $2,000, and failing to either take reasonable measures to put out or control the fire when he could do so without substantial risk to himself or to give a prompt fire alarm from Sept. 11-12.
The Jamestown Fire Department responded to multiple reports of a possible house explosion at 545 1st St. W at about 1:35 a.m. on Sept. 12. When firefighters arrived, the garage was fully involved, The Jamestown Sun reported.
The fire started in a detached one-stall garage at that address and spread to the house and the next-door neighbor's one-stall garage, The Sun reported.
First responders located a 55-year-old resident, identified as Quinlan in court documents, who had severe burns but was outside the home and coherent, The Sun reported. Quinlan was transported to Jamestown Regional Medical Center and later airlifted for life-threatening injuries to a Minneapolis hospital.
According to his brother-in-law, Quinlan was released from the Minneapolis hospital in October and was with family members in Kentucky healing from the fire, court documents say.
The house at 545 1st St. W was Quinlan's residence at the time of the fire, according to a declaration in support of probable cause written by Troy Kelly, special agent with the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Court documents say Quinlan was not one of the individuals who called 911.
Court documents say individuals on the scene told Jamestown police officers that Quinlan made statements about "burning his house down and blowing the place up." The officers on scene reported that Quinlan had received significant burns, and he made statements to them that he woke up and smelled gasoline.
"JOHN QUINLAN stated he went outside to smoke and 'the whole place blew up' and commented 'I probably ignited it,'" court documents say.
Staff at the hospital reported Quinlan's clothing smelling like "chemicals," court documents say. A police officer's report indicated that he could smell gasoline coming from Quinlan's boots and jeans while logging the items into evidence.
During the initial assessment of the scene with the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Jamestown Police Department, deputy fire marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, officers observed that the fire spread from the unattached garage at 545 1st St. W to the unattached garage at 543 1st St. W, the neighbor's property and ultimately to the main residence at 545 1st St. W., court documents say.
Court documents say the main residence and the unattached garage smelled like gasoline.
Videos from security cameras around the house at 545 1st St. W showed Quinlan carrying two containers into the residence at about 10 p.m. on Sept. 11, court documents say. The AC power was lost and the control panel started running on battery at about 10:10 p.m., court documents say.
The insurance company's investigator also reviewed videos from the camera system and informed Kelly that an empty 1-gallon Shell Rotella oil container was located at the foot of the bed on the second level of the residence, court documents say. The insurance company's investigator also indicated that the container looked like one that Quinlan carried into the house in a video.
After a search warrant was obtained for Otter Tail Power Co.'s records related to the house, Kelly observed that there was no power outage to the residence prior to the fire, indicating that the power to the AC system was manually turned off, court documents say.
