WILKINSBURG, Pa. — Police have filed multiple felony arson charges against a man in connection to an apartment fire that happened in Wilkinsburg in the summer.
Emergency crews were called to the 600 block of South Avenue on June 21. A fire burned through a unit in an apartment in that location.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Cause of Wilkinsburg apartment fire under investigation, officials say
Court documents say Zion Eleam, 25, had leased the unit.
The Allegheny Fire Marshal’s investigation showed the fire in the unit started in two different locations.
A first fire was ignited in the living room closet. A second was started along a wall in the living room. Investigators said they were unrelated to each other and that all natural or accidental causes for them had been eliminated.
Eleam was the only person in the unit at the time of the fire, although two other people were in separate units when the flames were set.
Police said he told them the fire started when he plugged his phone in and the charger exploded. This did not match the fire marshal’s findings that the situation had started in two parts of the room. The fire marshal also told police there was no evidence anything had been plugged into the only election outlet in the room.
Court documents said Eleam told police in an interview that he had started the fire in the closet with a lighter and had also set his curtains in the living room on fire.
Charges were filed against him on Tuesday.
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