CLEARFIELD – A Woodland woman has been charged with arson for setting fire to her own home.
Karen Sue Barger, 71, was charged with arson-danger of death or bodily injury, arson-intent to collect insurance, and risking a catastrophe, all felonies, as well as two misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person in connection with a fire in Bradford Township on Jan. 29.
After a preliminary hearing Wednesday during centralized court, District Judge Richard Ireland ruled that all charges be sent on to the court of common pleas for further disposition. She is free after posting $100,000 bail.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, while responding to the fire around 7:00 a.m., one of the BJW Fire Department’s fire apparatuses crashed. Both people in the vehicle were transported to a hospital for treatment.
Later in the day, police received a call from a witness who said Barger was at his house after the fire. When they sat to eat dinner, she allegedly told him she lit the house on fire on purpose because she wanted to die. She was taken to a hospital for an evaluation.
When questioned by investigators at the hospital, she admitted she used a match to light a blanket in the living room, according to the report. She also said she intended to die, but after 20 minutes, she walked out of the burning building and called 911.
A state police fire marshal executed a search warrant on the home and determined that the fire originated on the living room floor. Nearby he located a burnt match and a box of unburned matches. He reported that an open flame such as a match was used to ignite a combustible material on the living room floor.
The criminal complaint notes that Barger contacted her insurance company the day of the fire and filed an insurance claim on the home.
