A Stowe man accused of a years-long arson spree has been arrested.
Jeffrey Nolan, 62, faces eight counts of second-degree arson, the Vermont State Police announced Wednesday.
Police said Nolan admitted to setting eight fires in Stowe, the first in March 2019 and the eighth last week. Together, they caused more than $1.5 million in damage.
“I think the community is relieved,” Stowe town manager Charles Safford said Wednesday. “It’s been very stressful and very concerning — the property damage that has occurred and the continuing concern of potential injury or loss of life or damage to irreplaceable buildings within our historic downtown.”
According to police, the string of fires began March 30, 2019, when Nolan allegedly set blazes at the Stowe Public Library and the Stoware Commons building on South Main Street, the latter of which housed several businesses. Stoware Commons was considered a total loss.
The next month, police said, Nolan set a fire at Stowe Chiropractic on Pond Street.
The three initial fires spurred “lots of loose talk” about who could be responsible, the Stowe Reporter wrote at the time, but investigators hadn’t publicly disclosed any leads related to the investigation.
The fires resumed June 1, 2020, when Nolan allegedly set ablaze a three-bay garage and storage building on South Main Street, police said. Then, in August, he allegedly set fires at a commercial building on South Main Street, in a Dumpster on River Road and at the Stowe Cablevision building.
According to police, Nolan set a second fire at the cable business on Jan. 7.
The investigation involved the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Stowe Police Department and the Vermont Department of Public Safety’s Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit.
Nolan was held Wednesday for lack of $5,000 bail and was awaiting arraignment.
The garage and storage structure set ablaze last June housed the town’s parks department, said Safford, the town manager. The fire forced the town to relocate the department and replace its equipment.
Safford, who said he doesn’t know Nolan, said Stowe was fortunate that no one died or was seriously hurt in the incidents. “Anytime you play with fire, you take that risk,” he said.
