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Junior firefighter charged with setting Pa. duplex fire

Police said interviews with family and friends led them to view the 18-year-old as a suspect in the fire at his grandmother’s residence

By Jennifer Reeger
The Tribune-Review

SOMERSET COUNTY, Pa. — A Somerset County junior firefighter has been charged with setting a fire at the residence he shares with his grandmother.

Kenneth Roy Beeman, 18, of 222 Main St., Boswell, faces charges of arson and causing or risking a catastrophe, for allegedly setting the fire at the duplex that was reported around 12:38 a.m. today, state police reported.

Police said interviews with family and friends led them to view Beeman as a suspect in the fire.

When police interviewed Beeman, he admitted setting the fire, police said.

Beeman, who recently was accepted as a junior firefighter with the Boswell Volunteer Fire Department, was arraigned by District Judge Susan Mankamyer and sent to the Somerset County Jail in lieu of posting $100,000 bond.

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