An Alliance man has been arrested after police say he intentionally set fire to an abandoned city-owned building Thursday morning.
Alliance police said officers were called at 10:37 a.m. to 170 East Market Street for a report of a suspicious person breaking into the property. When officers arrived, the building was already engulfed in flames.
The suspect, identified as Thomas Jansell, 42, was seen entering and exiting the building before the fire started, according to Capt. Don Wenzel. Jansell was arrested a block away and is being held on charges of arson and criminal trespass.
The fire spread through a large, one-story wooden structure and a two-story brick building, both of which had been abandoned for years, police said. Fire crews vented the windows of the brick structure after finding heavy smoke inside.
No injuries were reported, and the incident remains under investigation.
