A 39-year-old Hardwick man, not too long ago laid off and dealing with eviction, set his dwelling on fireplace in August and picked up $6,500 in false insurance coverage claims, in response to the Vermont State Police.

Raymond Pickett faces costs of first-degree arson and insurance coverage fraud. He appeared in Caledonia County Courtroom Thursday.

The fireplace occurred Aug. 5 at Pickett’s home on Woodbury Avenue in Hardwick, troopers mentioned. State police investigated the incident for greater than two months earlier than citing Pickett on Wednesday.

Hardwick firefighters arrived on the dwelling at about 6:40 a.m. that August day. Neighbors had referred to as about heavy smoke. 

The firefighters compelled their manner by the padlocked door and located a small fireplace on the base of the first-floor stairs and one other within the basement, state police mentioned. 

Nobody was inside, and firefighters rapidly extinguished the flames.

Investigators decided that the blaze started within the basement, on a pile of family objects.  The fireplace unfold to the primary flooring, the place different objects had been stacked close to a flooring vent subsequent to the stairwell, investigators mentioned.

Within the entrance garden, authorities discovered a jacket with a field of matches inside, troopers mentioned.

Pickett arrived dwelling and advised troopers he left that morning together with his canine to seize espresso, in response to a detective’s affidavit.

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Pickett mentioned he had positioned an electrical heater on prime of the washer within the basement earlier than he went to mattress the earlier night time. He mentioned he knew it was going to get “depraved chilly” and wished to ensure his basement was heat sufficient to maintain his hot-water heater from working, troopers mentioned.

He mentioned his boss had texted him earlier that morning to not go to work. The jacket within the garden was his, he advised troopers, and the matches have been for cigarettes.

Investigators dominated out the heater and different attainable origins of the fireplace. They concluded that it had been began deliberately, with a transportable ignition supply like a lighter or match.

A number of interviews raised investigators’ suspicions. 

The boss Pickett had talked about advised troopers that he fired Pickett the week earlier than the fireplace and hadn’t texted him that morning.

A witness described listening to what appeared like a smoke alarm coming from the home as Pickett left.

The girl who offered Pickett the home in 2015 mentioned she agreed to carry the mortgage, with Pickett paying $300 a month towards it, however that he had began slipping with funds. 

She mentioned that a couple of week earlier than the fireplace, she had advised Pickett he wanted to begin paying or she would kick him out.

A former roommate advised state police {that a} couple weeks earlier than the fireplace, Pickett spoke about breaking a water pipe within the basement to gather insurance coverage cash. 

Investigators discovered that Pickett had overdue electrical, water and sewer payments, and located that he had filed an insurance coverage declare the day of the fireplace. As of Wednesday, his insurer had paid him $6,500 complete, state police mentioned.

Pickett made inconsistent statements between his preliminary interview and a second one in September, troopers mentioned. They decided that he had began the fireplace.

In courtroom Thursday, Decide Mary Miles Teachout launched Pickett on an unsecured bond of $1,000. 

Pickett’s lawyer mentioned his consumer was now dwelling in a camper.