A Greensburg man accused of setting an abandoned house on fire Monday is a suspect in other fires that have been ruled arsons, according to police.
Brian Keith Valore, 33, told police he was drinking on the Euclid Avenue home’s back porch at 1:30 a.m. when he doused wood with gasoline and lit it on fire, according to court papers.
Valore was arraigned Tuesday on charges of arson, risking a catastrophe and related offenses. During the hearing, he requested to be released from jail so he could be reunited with his son.
Senior District Judge Roger Eckels set bail at $50,000. Valore was being held in the Westmoreland County Prison.
Firefighters were called to the scene just before 4 a.m. and determined the blaze had been intentionally set, according to investigators. Valore was found with a butane lighter and smelled of gasoline, police said.
He is a suspect in at least two other arsons in Greensburg since June 28 and other blazes in nearby municipalities, police said in court papers. No other charges had been filed against him.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze before it reached the inside of the two-story home. The flames started underneath the back porch and damaged the rear exterior. Valore lives on the same street, according to court papers.
The house is marked with a red X, which alerts firefighters that the building is vacant.
Valore did not have an attorney listed in online court papers. A preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 19.
