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Marcus D. Wise, 30, set fires to a Linden school, homes and dumpster last July 25, Acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo said.
The first fire broke out at a business on the 800 block of North Wood Avenue around 10 p.m.
A half-hour later, a fire was reported at a vacant home on the 900 block of Seymour Avenue
Two more fires were reported after midnight -- one a brush fire on the 20 block of East Curtis Street and the other a dumpster fire on the 300 block of East Henry Street at the Soehl Middle School.
Police officers responding to reports of a person throwing rocks through a glass door of a building found Wise at the scene, around 1:15 a.m., authorities said.
When taken into custody, Wise had a lighter, a piece of cardboard and a can of WD-40 on him, the prosecutor said.
He was charged with two counts of second-degree aggravated arson, two counts of third-degree arson, two counts of fourth-degree criminal mischief, along with one count each of single count of second-degree attempted aggravated arson, third-degree attempted burglary and fourth-degree throwing bodily fluids at a law enforcement officer.
Linden police, the Union County Fire Investigation Task Force and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Newark Field Division participated in the investigation.
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