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Man Charged with Setting Sister’s House on Fire

LEHIGHTON — One man is locked up after he set his sister’s house on fire, according to police. The man arrested is Russell Young, 45, of Lehighton. ...

LEHIGHTON -- One man is locked up after he set his sister's house on fire, according to police.

The man arrested is Russell Young, 45, of Lehighton.

Investigators are now looking into a second fire that sparked minutes before, inside Young’s home.

Fire marshals spent the afternoon at the home on Carbon Street, where a fire sparked a little before 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Investigators said the blaze was intentionally set, and now they're trying to figure out who is responsible.

No one was home at the time, but neighbor Trisha George was still concerned for her family.

"I have three children living here with me. If it happened that early in the morning, we were all asleep," said George.

Then, minutes after 7 a.m. police were called to North Third Street, a block away because the homeowner said someone was trying to break in.

Police said when they arrived they noticed the back porch was on fire and found Russell Young in the backyard. Police said the home where Young was found, is where his sister lives.

Police then said as Young was getting arrested, they saw him throw a pack of matches. Police also noticed an odor of lighter fluid on the man and smelled the same odor near the back porch.

Neighbor Trisha George said she's glad police made an arrest within minutes of the crime.

"I hope that's exactly what they did, they found the right person and got him caught because I don't want anything like that happening around here," said George.

Police said there is no motive as to why Russell Young of Lehighton set his sister's house on fire.

Fire marshals are now trying to figure out if Young is connected to the fire that was set inside his home.

Russell Young is locked up in the Carbon County prison.

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