PHOENIX, Ariz. --
Phoenix arson investigators arrested Harold Kelley, 56, on arson charges Saturday after a fire broke out at his apartment.
Investigators said Kelley admitted to taking his lighter and torching his blankets and sheets because he was angry about bed bugs crawling all over him as he slept.
“He woke up and was really angry. He'd been bitten by bed bugs and felt like he'd had enough, (so he) doused the bed with cologne to try to get rid of the bed bugs. When that didn't happen, he lit them on fire," said Capt. Dana Donahue, of the Phoenix Fire Department.
A pile of charred bedding remained on the doorstep of the apartment he shared with his girlfriend. The apartment is located near 23rd Avenue and Indian School Road.
Donahue said the couple had been fighting and Kelley had been drinking before the fire began.
Investigators said once the blankets started to burn, Kelley moved them just outside the front door, where the fire could easily have spread to other units, considering the apartments are wood-framed.
Firefighters said Kelley tried to put the fire out with a fire extinguisher, but was unable to get control of the blaze.
"The fire got away from him a little bit,” said Donahue. “I don't think people understand how dangerous fire is and how quickly it can get away from you, especially when you take it from a confined area to an unconfined area. It gets a lot of air, and (the fire) can get much bigger."
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