Gasoline had been poured on the kitchen floor of a stove, which was smoking, when authorities arrived two 631 Center Street March 31 around 2 p.m., Betlehem police said.
Joshua Bartholomew, 32, had broken through a wall connected to an adjoining apartment and warned that he was burning the house down, authorities said.
Bartholomew was promptly taken into custody and charged with arson and risking a catastrophe.
He was arraigned and committed to Northampton County Prison under $50,000 bail.
Due to the quick actions of the responding officers and fire department personnel, no residents or neighbors were injured.
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