Associated Press
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — Firefighters continued to assess the damage after a large blaze this week at a long-abandoned Ohio factory that sent smoke into the air visible for miles.
Water was poured on the former paper plant in Middletown in southwest Ohio on Thursday, 24 hours after the fire broke out early New Year’s Day. It was the second major fire at the plant following a 2018 blaze.
A man who told authorities he lived inside the building was arraigned Thursday on a charge of arson with a preliminary court hearing scheduled for Jan. 8, the Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News reported.
The man told police he built a fire in the building and “when he came back into the area his bed was on fire,” according to court documents, the paper reported.
Two other people who also lived in the building were still unaccounted for Thursday, Middletown Fire Chief Paul Lolli said.
