CHICAGO (AP) -- A former firefighter and author of ''Great Chicago Fires: Historic Blazes That Shaped a City'' has been charged with setting a storage shed outside a church on fire, police said Monday.
David Cowan, 41, faces one count of arson for allegedly starting the fire on St. Benedict Church property on the city's North Side, police spokeswoman JoAnn Taylor said.
Cowan, a former suburban firefighter, was arrested Thursday hours after witnesses saw him fleeing the scene of the fire. No one was hurt and damage was minimal, Taylor said,
Cowan was being held on $100,000 bail.
Police have not disclosed a possible motive, though Taylor said Cowan recently had been fired from the church and had marital problems.
There was no public telephone listing for a David Cowan in the Chicago area. A spokeswoman for the Cook County Jail and Chicago police said they did not have the name of Cowan's attorney.
Cowan co-authored a book about a 1958 blaze at a church school that killed more than 90 children.
