May 17--A 24-year-old man set fire to a house in Tobyhanna Township early Thursday, nearly killing four people inside, police said.
Pocono Mountain Regional police said the four people in the home at 1319 Winding Way are deaf.
The occupants made it out safely and investigators later learned one of them had been involved in a domestic dispute with Joseph A. Shuman of Tobyhanna Township, police said. When police went to Shuman's home, they said he reeked of gasoline and was covered in soot, police said.
Police said he removed the electric meter on the side of the house on Winding Way, which shut off the power, before pouring gas around the front and back doors of the home. Because the occupants are deaf, the smoke alarms in the home flash to alert the occupants of fire or smoke, police said.
Shuman is being charged with four counts each of attempted homicide and reckless endangerment, two counts of arson and one count of possession of an instrument of crime.
Police said they learned of the fire when an unknown person called 911 to report the fire at 5:50 a.m., police said. Police said the front and back doors of the residence were engulfed in flames and there was a strong odor of gas.
During the investigation, a witness gave police a description of a vehicle and they learned it was used by Shuman. Police went to Shuman's home on Belgravia Drive and he was arrested without incident.
Pocono Mountain Regional police are looking for the good Samaritan who reported the fire. Police can be reached at 570-895-2400.
-- Manuel Gamiz Jr.
Copyright 2013 - The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)
