Man sentenced to 2 to 4 years for 2019 Ligonier Township arson

A Laughlintown man was sentenced Tuesday to two to four years in prison for setting his Ligonier Township home on fire last year.

Brian W. McVicker, 55, was ordered to pay the former owners of nearby Washington Furnace Inn on Route 30 $125,000 in restitution.

Chad Granatire said he has since sold the property, which included the inn and home, but the emotions remain. He and wife, Cindy Granatire, were initially concerned for McVicker’s well-being upon learning of the Jan. 15, 2019, blaze. But, as more details about the fire came out, that fear turned to anger.

“I felt very betrayed and for it to end this way, I was really heartbroken,” Chad Granatire said.

McVicker was convicted in August of arson, risking catastrophe and criminal mischief in connection with the blaze. He had lived there rent-free in exchange for caretaker duties at the bar. Police said McVicker ignited the blaze inside the two-story, century-old home then barged into a neighbor’s house and deployed a fire extinguisher as he claimed he was being threatened by unnamed people.

He was acquitted of one arson count. A charge of burglary was dismissed during the trial and other counts were dropped before the jury was seated. McVicker was credited with time served in the Westmoreland County Prison since the fire.

“I am sorry for any grief that I caused Mr. Granatire’s family, absolutely,” he said from video at the jail.

Granatire told Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio that he and McVicker were friends. He tore down the home and sold the property at a loss in September 2019.

Prosecutors during the three-day trial said McVicker set the fire inside of the home behind the shuttered bar about two months after the property was put up for sale. Investigators determined that the fire was intentionally set but could not pinpoint the exact cause, according to trial arguments.