A man was taken into custody for starting a brush fire in Mahanoy Township on Wednesday afternoon.
Around 2:50pm, Wednesday, emergency personnel were called to 180 Park Place Road, near Mahanoy City for a report of a brush fire.
Firefighters and police arrived on scene to find a large brush fire that was quickly spreading. The fire was brought under control within a half hour.
The fire burned a hillside that was approximately 40 yards by 40 yards. Along with the brush, the fire burned tires, chairs, a television, and a mattress.
According to Mahanoy Township Police Chief Brandon Alexander, he spoke with EMS who arrived first on scene, who reported seeing a suspicious person in a gray tee shirt, tattoos, with a bicycle standing over the fire, then fleeing.
Chief Alexander requested help from Mahanoy City Police to help locate the male suspect.
Approximately 15 minutes later, officers located a male matching the description looking into a dumpster in the 500 block of East Railroad Street in Mahanoy City.
The male, identified as Shane Yedsena, 34, of Park Place Road, Mahanoy City, was taken into custody without incident and taken to the police station for questioning.
At the station, he admitted to police for starting the fire.
Yedsena was charged with felony arson and risking catastrophe as well as misdemeanor recklessly endangering another person.
Yedsena was arraigned before on-call Magisterial District Judge Stephen Bayer and locked up in Schuylkill County Prison on $10,000 straight cash bail.
