GLOUCESTER , MASS. (WHDH) - A store employee is accused of setting two fires at a Gloucester Market Basket last week, according to the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services.
Matthew R. Johnson, 35, was arrested Thursday and charged with two counts each of burning personal property and attempting to burn a building, the department said in a statement.
At around 8:20 p.m. last Friday, firefighters responded to the store on Gloucester Crossing Road to find two separate fires inside, officials said.
One fire was set to a pallet of paper towels in the stockroom and was extinguished by the store’s sprinkler system, while the other fire was ignited inside a cardboard compactor, according to the Gloucester Fire Department.
The flames were fully extinguished by 9 p.m., and no injuries were reported. The grocery store was able to reopen the next day after crews ventilated and cleaned the building, officials said.
Local and state police and fire officials conducted an investigation and determined the fires to be suspicious. Officials used video footage to determine Johnson was involved.
His fiancee said Johnson worked in the kitchen of the supermarket and had been employed there for less than a year.
Johnson appeared in Gloucester District Court Thursday afternoon. He was ordered held on $5,000 cash bail.
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